A Quest
by Nightshade di Angelo
Summary: Nico and Will go on a quest with Lou Ellen and Cecil to save Apollo from Python. Solangelo and a little Loucil.
1. Nico's POV

"Gimme your arm," Will Solace said.

"Why?" Nico di Angelo asked in response.

"I need to check on your werewolf scratches."

"Ok."

It was Nico's second day in the infirmary with Will Solace. Will didn't allow any visitors for the first day in the infirmary so he was able to escape Percy for a day, but now he could come barging in at any time.

"Are you okay? You look tense," Will asked concernedly. He was cute when he was worried.

Wait, what? Had he just called Will cute?

"Yeah, I'm fine! Just go on doing your doctor stuff."

And he did. Nico didn't tense up at Will's touch the way he did with most people. He had, after all, introduced him to manga, the awesomest thing in the world. That was the only reason whatsoever.

"Are you worried about visitors?"

"No!"

"Does this have anything to do with Percy?"

Youkai...

"No."

"You're lying."

"I am not."

"You don't have to tell me, you know. I understand. We barely know each other."

Was that hurt in Will's voice?

"Okay, yes it does have to do with Percy. How did you know?"

"You were talking to him up on the hill before coming into the infirmary. I just guessed."

He went on with his check up, luckily not asking anymore questions. The infirmary was a nice place, except for the faint scent of death of course. It was just a room in the big house with cots with curtains around them for the patients. In the corners there were rooms with cots for the patient with serious injuries or sicknesses who needed to be hooked up to one of those machines like a ventilator or were contagious. Near the door there's a check-in counter where you can go to make appointments or check in. Alicia, one of the Athena kids, works there. There are doors in the walls leading to different rooms that the doctors constantly go in and out of. There were a lot doctors but Will was always hovering over Nico when he didn't have other patients so Nico never got to meet them, which was fine for him. Jason and maybe Percy and Annabeth were too many acquaintances already, then there's Will.

Were he and Will friends?

Anyways, he never got to meet many of the doctors but he knew of Austin and Kayla, who were Will's siblings, like almost all the other doctors. Austin was more of a musician and Kayla was an archer, but they were talented in all the things in Apollo's domain like archery, music, healing, poetry, etc. Will, on the other hand, was only talented in healing, but he was the best healer in the entire camp.

"Well, you seem to be healing nicely. I'm gonna go check on the other patients and be back," Will said with a smile to rival Helios. Then someone rang the bell outside the curtain. It was like the doorbell since there were no doors. Kayla came in.

"Nico, someone's here to see you."

Oh gods no. Please don't be Percy. Please please please...

"Well, I'll leave you to it. Bye, Death Boy," Will said, exiting the room.

"Bye, and don't call me that!" He yelled after him as Kayla let, thank the gods, Jason into the room.

"So, how're you doing?" Jason asked, leaning against the wall.

"Better." Nico said.

"So...you told Percy."

"How'd you know?"

"It's all he talks about. Only to Annabeth and I though, so don't worry about him leaking out that information to the entire camp. He's kinda...goofy...but he wouldn't do that."

"So how'd he react?" He asked uncertainly.

"He was glad that you came out to him, but he's also not happy about not being your type. It's all he talks about! 'How can I not be his type? I'm everyone's type!'"

He gave him a small smile and Jason seemed a little surprised by it. To be honest, he was too. When was the last time he smiled? Now that he thought about it, he smiled last when he was talking to Will yesterday about his favorite manga "Erased". And another time when Will first introduced him to manga. And the day Nico first got to the infirmary, yesterday...

That boy made him smile almost too much for his liking.

"Well that's a relief. I was scared he'd be homophobic or something." Nico said.

"So enough about Percy. What's going on with Will Solace?" Jason asked, his eyes excited.

"What?" Nico asked.

Jason rolled his eyes. "You're letting him touch you, Nico. He's making you smile! There's obviously something going on!"

"There is nothing going on, and I don't feel comfortable with having this conversation."

"But—". Jason was cut off when Will opened the curtain saying "Your time's up, Jason. Nico, you've got another visitor."

Nico was glad to be saved from Jason's questions about his love life but not so glad when he saw who the visitor was. Percy.

Oh dear gods.

"So, Neeks," Percy closed the curtain, "we need to talk."

"Don't call me that." He said instinctively.

"Sorry. So, uh, about what you said to me on the hill..."

"There's not much to talk about in my opinion."

"Well, in my opinion there is. Thank you for coming out to me. That was really brave. But I do have a problem with what you said."

"Yes...?"

"How am I not your type?"

"Oh my gods, Percy!"

"But I'm everyone's type!"

"Percy! You have a girlfriend!"

"Exactly! She thinks I'm her type. Why not you?"

"Because!" He said, exasperated

"Well, who is your type, then?"

"I am not telling you."

"Fine," Percy said, pouting. "But really, thanks for coming out to me. That was brave. And believe me, I know brave." He opened the curtain to find a blushing Will Solace outside the curtain. Percy looked at me, then Will, gave Will a thumbs up, then left.

"How much of that did you hear?" Nico asked Will.

"Nothing."

"Will."

"I really didn't hear anything!" He said. "I'm just here to...uh...check on you."

Will would never admit that he was standing outside of that curtain the whole time.

Hi, guys! This is my first ever fanfiction and I hope you like it! The next chapter will have more Solangelo in it, this is more of a pilot chapter thing.


	2. Chapter 2 Will's POV

He wasn't eavesdropping! He was just listening...  
Okay. He was eavesdropping. Nico was worried about talking to Percy and Will wanted to know why. He was concerned like a good friend would be. When he heard the part about Percy not being his type, Will was excited. But why? Maybe he was just excited that his new friend was gay, like him. But when Lou told him that she was pansexual he wasn't this excited... Could he be developing a crush on the moody son of Hades?  
"Okay Will, I think you've been staring at my werewolf scratches for long enough," Nico said.  
"Uh, right! Well, I'm gonna go get you lunch now." Will said, blushing.  
"I just had breakfast!"  
"At 9:00. It's 12:00 now. Eat." Will said as he went to get the food. He got braciola for Nico and a grilled chicken salad and an apple for himself. Braciola was Italian beef rolls in tomato sauce. Nico's mother used to cook this for him and this is apparently what ambrosia tastes like for him. He sacrificed some food for the both of them, to each of their fathers. He felt a little uncomfortable with sacrificing food to Hades, but he's really no different from the other gods. Just got a little unlucky when choosing his domain. He returned to Nico's room in the infirmary to find Nico sitting there reading another manga. He was so focused, his eyebrows were all scrunched up. Will admitted it, Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, was adorable.  
"Lunch is served," Will said, placing the plates on the table next to him.  
"I'll eat later." Nico mumbled, turning the page.  
"Look, I know you think you can feed yourself on the muscles of the ripped guys in aprons from Food Wars but, you really can't."  
Nico blushed and put the book down. He took the plate off the table, mumbled a "Thanks", and began to eat. Will couldn't help but stare at Nico as he ate. As they were talking he focused on the sound of Nico's voice more than his actual words. His voice was like any male teenager's voice, but there was still a trace of Italian in it, even though he had been in America since he was like, what, eleven? To be honest, it was kinda sexy. When they were finished Will took the plates back to the pavilion. When he got back, he saw a crowd by the infirmary. He squeezed through and found Rachel standing at the door, he also noticed all his patients' beds were moved closer to the door, including Nico's.  
"What's going on?" Will asked her.  
"Prophecy." She said.  
"What? I thought you couldn't use your gift of prophecy because Apollo was being punished?" Will questioned.  
"I thought so too. But Apollo gave me a dream message telling me that he'd give me a prophecy so, here I am with the Romans. I'm doing it by the infirmary so the injured patients can also hear it."  
I nodded and then turned and nodded at Reyna and Frank, the Praetors of Camp Jupiter, Hazel, Nico's sister, and at Percy and Annabeth. Then Rachel closed her eyes and started to swoon and some kids caught her and placed her on a stool. Green mist swirled around her feet and when she opened her eyes, they were emerald green and smoke emitted from her mouth. She spoke in a raspy voice that was not as strong as it usually was:  
"The son of Apollo must go far East  
To save his father from my home in Greece  
He will go with the trickster, magician, and child of death  
To snuff the python's foul breath.  
Light and dark hand in hand  
Will see the python's final stand"  
And then she collapsed and her helpers carried into the infirmary. The prophecy wasn't at all how it normally was. It seemed more direct and informative than they usually are, even though it didn't tell much other than where to go.  
Will went up to Nico and Hazel, Frank, and Reyna came up behind them. Frank nodded to Nico and then Reyna and Hazel hugged him quickly before they started discussing the prophecy.  
"We must discuss who will be going on the quest. It is clear that they must go to Greece to save Apollo from something," Chiron said.  
"From Python," Annabeth said, "the prophecy says 'the python' and 'my home in Greece'. The oracle's homeland is Delphi, which is where Apollo first killed Python."  
"Why would Apollo need to be saved from Python by four demigods?" A camper asked.  
"Maybe Apollo's punishment was to fight Python and get back control over the oracle but he got captured?" Will suggested.  
"That would make sense," Nico added, "He wouldn't dare ask Zeus because he's the one who punished him in the first place and he would've told the other gods not to help him, so his only choice would be demigods. He could've managed to get a message through to Rachel with a prophecy he made and a little of his prophecy powers. That would explain why the prophecy was a little more direct and spoke mostly about him."  
"So we know what the quest is about, but who will be going?" Reyna asked.  
"'Son of Apollo', that's obvious. A son of Apollo. Then 'the trickster, magician, and child of death'. Child of Hermes, Child of Hecate, and Nico di Angelo, Child of Hades," said an Athena kid.  
"But Nico can't go! He's still in rehabilitation!" Will practically shouted.  
"It's fine, I'll have my doctor with me. That is, if he wants to go," Nico said, looking at him.  
Will found himself blushing and hoped that it wasn't obvious. "Of course I'm going, Death Boy. If I leave you for a second you'll almost kill yourself. You're lost without my guidance."  
Nico was about to retort but Reyna cleared her throat while glaring at Will for some reason, "And for the other two?"  
"Obviously me, for the child of Hermes." Cecil jumped up and said.  
Will looked at Nico and Nico shrugged. "Sure thing, bud. Can't leave any of my best friends behind," Will said.  
"I hope that means you'll be taking me too. It better mean you'll be taking me too," Lou Ellen said with a challenging look at Cecil.  
"Why are you looking at me like that? Will's the one who almost left you out! She is coming, right?" Cecil quickly glanced at Will and he nodded.  
"Because I always glare at you and it's become a thing of habit," Lou Ellen said over the wolf whistles coming from some Hermes kids and the squeals from the piglets some of Lou's siblings turned the Hermes kids into.  
"So no Romans? Why did we all have to come here? It was date night!" Percy complained as Annabeth slapped him upside the head, "Percy!"  
"So it is settled. Pack your things and report to the Big House. A quest has begun," Chiron declared.


	3. Chapter 3 Cecil's POV

Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry I didn't publish the second chapter until like, a month after I published the first. There were problems with uploading it and I was trying to fix it. It still wasn't completely fixed, but it was close enough. I was also super busy with my YouTube and seventh grade lives. I myself don't have a channel, but my friend Zinx Winx does. She's making an animation called "Hidden Tragedies" and I'm composing the music for it! Well, trying to anyways. She's having auditions for some of the characters on under the name "The Winter Blossom Team" so if you want, please try out for the voice acting! You can either post a video of you saying the lines on the website or on YouTube and then in the comment section you can just paste a link to the video if you chose the YouTube way. Also, check out our channel! Thanks so much! Let's get back to the story!

 _First quest! Score!_ Cecil thought to himself as he stuffed his backpack with all of his things. He had never been outside camp since he got here at age 8, with of course the exception of the Titan and Giant Wars. He of course loved camp. He would miss training, the prank wars with his siblings, annoying the other campers like Lou Ellen, and stuff like that, but there was so much more mischief that could be accomplished in the real world. And besides, it's not like he wouldn't have anyone to bother, he would always have Lou Ellen.

*Knock knock* Cecil turned around to see Will Solace standing in the doorway of his cabin.

Cecil smiled, "Hey bud, ready for the quest? When do we leave?"

"I came just to tell you. We're leaving right after dinner. Also, when you're done packing, we have to meet with Reyna and Chiron in the Big House. And I also came to make a request," Will said.

"Yes?" Cecil asked.

"No bothering Nico."

"What?!"

"I'm serious. He's still getting used to socializing."

Cecil grinned, "Fine! Don't worry, lover boy, no bothering Dead—uh, Nico. Tricketer's Honor."

"That doesn't sound very convincing. And what do you mean 'lover boy'?" Will asked, looking agitated.

"Don't worry about it," Cecil said, grinning and closing the door in his best friend's face.

 _He obviously likes him_ , Cecil thought. He was happy for his best friend, of course he was, so he didn't know why he felt so bitter about it. He never had any sort of feelings for either of them. He loved Will like a brother at most, and Nico had always creeped him out. Besides, he was straight.

Whelp, there's time to worry about that later. He had a meeting to go to.

He arrived at the Big House at the same time Lou Ellen did. They walked over to the Ping Pong table and stood next to Will across from Chiron and Reyna. Nico was standing at the end of the table, close to Reyna and Will. Nico was chatting with Reyna and Will was standing there awkwardly, almost as awkwardly as Chiron.

"Ah, you're here!", Chiron said, sounding almost relieved, "We need to discuss some important matters, like how you're going to get to Delphi."

"The Romans could provide a ship for transportation," Reyna offered.

Cecil remembered the stories Percy told about his journey to Alaska to defeat the giant Alcyoneus with Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang. The highlight if the story was the "navy" that Octavian gave them. Also known as an old rowboat called _The Pax._

"Uh, thanks for the offer but—" Cecil was cut iff by Reyna who said, "We got a new ship. Percy and Frank isnsisted on it. Percy teamed up with all the Vulcan kids to make one. He even named it..."

"What did he name it?" Nico asked.

Reyna sighed, "The...S.S Persassy..."

Everyone broke out laughing, even Nico. Cecil remembered the little grumpy kid who left as soon as the Titan War was over. He had expected him to leave again as soon as the Giant War was over, but he was forced to stay by the Son of Apollo for three more days. Then this quest came up, so he woukd be staying in the company of others for a while longer. Cecil didn't know if he would leave after or if he would stay for good. Did he want him to stay this time? Well, yeah. He wasn't as gloom and doom as he was before he met Will. Cecil would almost be able to start pranking him. So why was he bitter about him and Will liking each other?

Lou Ellen lightly elbowed Cecil, disturbing his train of thought. Luckily no one else had noticed he was lost in thought and that the one person who did was Lou Ellen. She would yell at him later and then try to probe him on what he was thinking about while pretending not to care. He grinned at the thought.

"Thanks for the offer Reyna, but I have a better idea. No offense, but there is no way I am travelling by sea. Percy and I may be cool, but I need not remind you that our fathers most certainly are not."

"So what do you suggest?" Reyna asked.

Nico grinned, one that gave Cecil chills. "I suggest we go through the labyrinth."

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Sorry that this chapter is shorter and much worse than the rest. I'm currently experiencing Writer's Block. I feel I made Cecil a very flat character so sorry about that! I'll try to improve his character arc as the story goes on. Pls review! Thx! Bye!


	4. Author's Note

Hey guys!

Sry I haven't been updating! It's finals month and I've just been bombarded with tests, extra credit wirks, etc. My science teacher spent the year teaching us about circuits and he completely forgot about magnetism so he had to fit half a year's worth of learning and homework into one month. Also, I've been working on the theme song for Zinx's animation so that's also been taking up a lot of my time. (Auditions are still open. .Club. Hidden Tragedies by TheWinterBlossomTeam!) Don't worry I have not forgotten about this fanfiction! Will update soon!

Bye!


	5. Chapter 4 Lou Ellen's POV

Everyine was taken aback by Nico's words.

"Nico, the labyrinth was destroyed a while ago. By your sister and Lady Hecate." Chrion stated, although he sounded unsure.

"That's what we all thought," Nico said, "But Pashaë rebuilt a part of it."

Everyone at the table gasped.

"What?! How?! I thought my mom and your sister defeated her?!" Lou Ellen exclaimed. She had heard stories about the heroics of her mom and Hazel Levesque, who had become a sort of idol for the girl.

"I did too. I was running an errand for my father when I ran into Daedalus. He told me that she did. I guess it makes sense. They didn't kill her after all, and she probably rebuilt it with the mist."

"Well then you certainly mustn't take that route!" Reyna said, indignantly, "It is obviously incredibly dangerous. A rogue goddess who most likely has a grudge against your sister and will take it out on you. Not to mention, your companion here, Lou was it?, is a daughter of Hecate! You're practically asking to get killed!"

"She does have a point," Chiron agreed, "It is too risky."

"Aw come on, we're demigods, going to the nearest McDonald's is too risky," Nico tried to reason.

Will crinkled his nose, "That's risky to for anyone, Death Boy. That food is crazily unhealthy for you."

Nico shot him a quick glare, though it was quite obviously half hearted.

"Nico, the sea can't be that bad of an option. Percy flew in the sky on the Argo II, and Jason sailed on water then too. The gods wouldn't attack a Hero of Olympus," Lou Ellen said.

Nico blushed a little at that, and Lou smirked at how easy it was to fluster the boy.

Nico was not about to give up, the boy sure was stubborn. "Well yeah but, how long do we have to save Apollo? Exactly, we don't know. Journey by boat would take, what, a month? We don't have that kind of time. The labyrinth would be the quickest way."

Chiron was about to retort, but he stopped and pondered for a second before sighing. "You do have a point, any objections from the rest of the team?"

Lou Ellen was uneasy about the whole thing, but she was more excited than anything. Her mom had been there. It was weird, she knew, but it made her feel closer to her mother. She had never met her, and to think she could have a shot at doing what she did and making her proud thrilled Lou.

"None from me."

"Uh, many from me," Will said.

"Aw come on Willy, how bad can it be? It's a quest, there's already tons of danger guaranteed, so why not? Consider it a little midnight stroll with your boyfriend, a double date!" Cecil grinned.

Both Nico and Will were a bright crimson, but Lou merely rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Cecil. And, for the last time, we are not dating!"

Reyna sighed. "Well, 3 against one. Looks like you're going through the labyrinth."

And so the meeting was adjourned, and a quest begun.

"What were you daydreaming about, Cecil?" Lou Ellen asked, still half annoyed by the fact he wasn't paying attention at the beginning of the meeting.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Cecil asked cheekily.

"I really wouldn't," Lou Ellen said. She rolled her eyes and departed to her cabin once they reached it. Cecil always thought that she was interested in everything he did, when she really wasn't. She had much better things to do. What, just because she was a girl she had to be enticed with him and be captivated by everything he does? Sorry, but that's not how it works.

Anyways, she would miss this serene, beautiful cabin half tucked into the woods. Torches lit with grren fire rested on either side of a beautifully carved door. The inside looked as if it were designed for witches. It looked like most of the other cabins, except everything was black. The walls, roof, carpet, bedsheets, tables, chairs, and exterior was black. The tables were littered with all sorts of viles and jars. The fireplace looked like the perfect spot to fit a cauldron, with a rounded hole and a relatively wide top to easily be able to reach in and perhaps stir something or take a large round item out. Unless, of course, it was made for an enjoyable visit for Santa.

Lou brushed her hair behind her ear as she began filling her bag with all her necessities. Clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste (where she would use them, she had no clue, but no harm in being prepared), soap, her recipe book for her "potions", Greek Fire, a dagger, some pig balls, and a whole other assortment of potions and such. She moved her bag off the bed, and laid down, ready for the next day.

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Hey guys! Thanks for reading my story! It feels like the chapters are getting shorter and shorter (not now after editing), but don't worry! I'll fix that next chapter! Hopefully we'll get into some actual interesting stuff and they can be a lot longer! Please review! Thx, bye!

~Nightshade di Angelo


	6. Chapter 5 Nico's POV

Author's note: Hey guys! I am so, so sorry I haven't updated in a while. I went to Europe and then school started and it's been really hectic. I also forgot my log in... Anyways, the important thing is that I have finally decided to update my story after months! I also have been reading a variety of books so my writing style may have changed, so please don't mind that. Again, I am very sorry and hopefully I will start to update more often.

I was in the middle of a peaceful sleep when I was jerked out of my slumber by an unnecessarily loud, "NICO!"

I fell off my bed and glared up at the worried face of Will.

"I am so sorry!" Will apologized as he helped me up.

"Yeah, yeah. It's fine. Actually, care to explain to me why you decided to wake me up at 5:00 in the morning?! The sun isn't even up yet!" I angrily said to him.

"We have to leave for the quest! Come on! Hurry up! Even Cecil is ready before you!"

"Ugh fine," I said as I groggily got up and got ready.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and followed Will all the way up to the top of Half-Blood Hill. Once we finally trudged up to the top, Will and I were greeted by an over-enthusiastic Cecil and a half annoyed, half amused Lou Ellen.

"You guys finally decided to show up!" Cecil exclaimed whilst bouncing in place.

"Thank the gods," Lou Ellen said, "I don't know how much longer I would've survived with only him as company."

"Hey!" Cecil said, feigning hurt, "I will have you know I am great company, aren't I, Di Angelo?"

My social anxiety kicked in, but before I could start stuttering, Will, thankfully, I guess, glared at Cecil, causing Cecil to say, "Oh you don't need to say it. I know I am."

 _What was that about?_ I thought, _Had Will instructed Cecil not to talk to me or something? Was he scared I may scare Cecil or embarrass him?_

I was jerked out of these thoughts when Lou Ellen said, "So how are we gonna get there?"

Everyone fell silent at that.

"Seriously?! No one got us a mode of transportation?!" Lou Ellen seethed.

"Well, hey! You didn't do that either!" Will said, pouting.

He's cute when he pouts.

wait what. I didn't say that.

"Well at least I thought of it," Lou Ellen shot back.

I began to say, "Guys, why don't I just shadow travel—", when I was so rudely interrupted by Will who said, "NO. You're still weak. No Underworldy powers, remember?!"

"Aw come on. I've been in the infirmary for 3 days! I think I can handle it."

"Yeah, well, you couldn't conjure a wishbone on your first day in the infirmary."

"Yeah, exactly. First day."

"That was only a few days ago."

"Not even a week."

"Aww you guys argue like Lou and I," an annoying Cecil interrupted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Will asked, annoyed.

"It means that you argue like a couple, which you are," Cecil explained.

"We are not a couple!" Lou Ellen seethed at him.

"Not yet," Cecil said, his smile unfaltering.

"Ok, ok," I interrupted, "Look, we just need to get to the labyrinth, so let's focus on that."

"Nico's right," Will agreed, "So how do we get there?"

I cleared my throat and gestured at myself.

"No," Will stubbornly said.

"Look, Will, we need to get there," Lou Ellen said.

"No...I think safety is more important," Cecil said, looking anxious.

"Look, Cecil, shadow travelling isn't that bad. You just kind of untangle the threads of your existence and blend into the shadows. It sounds scary but the side effects are really just headaches, nausea, dizzy spells, and only a possibility of fading out of existence," I assured him.

"Well that's reassuring," Cecil mumbled.

"What was that?" I asked, even though I heard him perfectly well.

"I said, 'Well that's procuring.'"

"Do you even know what that means?" I asked.

"No," Cecil admited.

"ANYWAYS," I said in attempt to get us back on track, "So am I shadow travelling or not?"

"Absolutely not," Will said.

"Fine," I huffed, "I can get Mrs. O'Leary to shadow travel us. You guys remember Mrs. O'Leary? The hellhound? Yeah, she can do it."

Will still looked uneasy. Man, he was almost as stubborn as Nico was. Yup, he was just being stubborn. He didn't care for Nico, although he certainly hoped he would... Nico shook himself out of thoughts and focused on Will's words.

"I don't know... You'd still be shadow travelling, the only difference would be you wouldn't be the one controlling it."

That's it. I gave Will the zombie-puppy-dog eyes and I saw his resistance waning. To deliver the final blow, I gave him a little pout, and he immediately gave in.

"FINE," he said.

"Weak," Lou Ellen mumbled.

"No way, did Di Angelo do puppy dog eyes?!" Cecil asked, trying to conceal his laughter and excitement.

"Keep talking and those words won't be the only things coming out of you. Also screams and some organs," I threatened him.

Cecil gulped, "Point taken."

I whistled loudly and in no time, a hige black hellhound was bounding towards me. Her loud bark shook the camp when she saw me. She immediately pounced on me and began licking my face.

I let out a little laugh. "Good to see you too, girl."

I glanced over to where Will was and saw him smiling and cocking an eyebrow at me.

"Shut up, Solace."

"Awwww aren't you just the cutest little child of death?!"

"Well!" Lou Ellen interrupted, "Are we going or not?!"


	7. Another Author's note

Hey guys! So, I have officially decided to continue this story, despite huge amounts of writer's block. I really don't remember what I was planning on doing with this story, so bear with me. It might take a while, but a new chapter will be up, and hopefully I'll start posting more often so I can actually finish this. Thanks so much for reading and being patient with me, I better go get working. Bye!


	8. Chapter 6 Will's POV

At the sound of another human, Mrs. O'Leary looked up at the other 3 demigods and growled.

"Easy, girl," Nico reassured her, "they're friends."

At the sound of the word "friends" Mrs. O'Leary immediately perked up. She barked, once again shaking the entire hill, and she began licking Will. Will was complaining about unsanitary that was but he was smiling and laughing the whole time. When Cecil began to laugh at him, Mrs. O'Leary turned her attention towards him and began licking him.

"Jeez, is all she ever does is lick people?!" Will laughed.

"Well, she can't exactly come in contact with ghosts, so," Nico said as he scratched her behind the ear.

Lou, while doing the same to her other ear, laughed, "We're really bad at this. We keep getting sidetracked!"

Nico nodded and said, "You're right. We should get going. Everyone, climb onto her back."

He swung himself onto her back, which wasn't as easy as he made it look, and then he reached out a hand to help Will up. Will felt himself go red as he accepted the hand and used it to help hoist himself up onto her back. Her fur was incredibly soft, but not as soft as Nico's skin. Or that hair...how he wanted to reach out and... _Will. Shut up._ He chastised himself.

With quite a lot of difficulty, Cecil finally managed to climb onto her back, and he mimicked Nico by holding his hand out to Lou Ellen, who slapped it as a high five and pulled herself up, Cecil pouting the whole time. Will could feel the satisfaction radiating off of her for making him pout yet again.

"Hold on," Nico said with a maniacal grin.

 _Oh gods_ Will thought right before melting into the shadows.

Oh gods was right.

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Hey guys! This chapter came out sooner than expected, so it was bound to be the shortest one so far. I still have writer's block, evidently, but I'm getting over it. Hope you guys liked this chapter. Oh yeah, if you guys had read the previous chapters before I edited them today, you might wanna go reread those, or you won understand a single thing in this chapter. I changed some things in the previous chapters, so you might wanna go back and check those out so you won't be too confused. Okay, thanks again for reading! Please review, and constructive criticism is always welcomed! Bye!


	9. Chapter 7 Lou Ellen's POV

As soon as they made it to their destination, everyone, except for Nico, obviously, became overwhelmingly queasy. Will actually began upchucking in the corner.

Nico's brow furrowed in worry, "Hey, you alright?" He kneeled beside him and pushed his hair behind his face.

"Uh...yeah...I'm fine..." Will said sheepishly, evidently surprised Nico would want to come near him after that.

Cecil and Lou, on the other hand, turned around, already nauseous enough.

"Aw, Lou. How come you're not tending to your boyfriend?!" Cecil joked. Lou was surprised that Will and Nico still blushed at his comments.

Lou Ellen, fairly green herself, punched Cecil in the arm with a glare, not nearly enough to rival the Son of Hades's though.

"I will puke on you," she warned.

"Uh, you can go now Mrs. O'Leary," Nico addressed the large dog.

She whimpered a bit, but shadow traveled away anyways.

"Uh, so, you guys good now or...?" Nico asked.

"Yeah fine. My stomach and brain only switched places, nothing to worry about," Cecil remarked.

Lou Ellen slapped his arm, _Man this is happening a lot,_ before nodding to Nico.

"You good, Sunshine?" Nico addressed Will.

He gave a reassuring smile, although very pale and green.

"K good, cuz we're in the Labyrinth."

Everyone stopped and looked around, it finally sunk in. They were in THE Labyrinth. Lou honestly expected it to be a lot darker, but she was glad it wasn't. They were in a hall type room, it was surprisingly large with a dome top. There were scenes carved into the walls, close to the ceiling, all of the most iconic moments in Roman demigod history; before the most recent ones, of course. Straight ahead of them were were 2 identical doorways.

"This is the part where Janus comes and tries to confuse us, at least that's what they did to Annabeth, but no one's here," Nico said.

"Well let's thank the other gods and pick a door," Will responded.

"You can't just pick a door, Will. Who knows what could be behind them?!" Lou said.

"Well, how do you suppose we pick a door?" Will asked.

"Hmph." Lou Ellen huffed in minor annoyance.

"Lou, isn't your mom also somewhat the goddess of crossroads?" Cecil asked.

"I don't know what you mean by somewhat but yeah."

"Well, you take a guess! You might have some sort of godly intuition from your mom."

"Cecil, that's stupid."

"Well we'll be guessing either way," Nico sighed, "It couldn't hurt to let you guess."

Lou Ellen huffed and turned towards the doorways. She suddenly felt an immense amount of pressure, even though all she had to do was pick a door. She could pick a door and some sort of monster could be behind it, and or maybe she would pick a door that lead to a dead end, or maybe it lead straight to Pasiphaë! She let these thoughts swim around her head as she looked between the 2 doors. Whenever she made decisions, she usually knew which was the right one, probably thanks to her mom, but she always couldn't help but doubt her instincts. What if they were wrong?!

She sighed and forced herself to calm down, "U-Uhhhh, I say we take th-the door to the left."

Will and Nico simply nodded and walked towards it, but Cecil looked at her strangely before shrugging it off and continuing to follow Will and Nico.

She sighed, glad no one noticed her freak out over a decision about doors. Doors of all things! She felt stupid because of her, well, stupidity, and followed them to the entrance.

"I'll go first," Nico said. Will looked like he wanted to protest but he decided against it.

Nico stepped in, and when nothing happened he motioned for the others to follow. It was immediately dark the minute she entered. On the other side of that door was a dark tunnel, she couldn't see the end. She turned around and noticed the entrance was no longer there.

"Where did the door go?!" She yelped.

"The Labyrinth is ever-changing," Nico explained, "The Labyrinth gained a mind of its own and eventually grew out of Daedalus' control, since it began to grow and expand on its own."

Lou Ellen nodded. This news was rather...unsettling.

"Wait so...we're in a living being...?" Will asked, sounding rather frightened.

Nico grimaced, "Yeah. Pretty much."

Will gulped.

"Gee, Death the Kid," Nico scowled at the nickname Cecil had given him, "How do you know so much about this place?"

"Well first of all I'm the only one who can give him stupid, or in my opinion, incredibly clever, nicknames. Right, Death Boy?" Will slung his arm around Nico's shoulders.

Nico crinkled his nose. "Sure thing, Sunshine."

Will beamed at him, like a literal ray of sunshine.

"Now that you're done flirting, can we keep moving? This place is giving me the creeps," Lou Ellen said.

"Right," Nico said as he trudged along in front of the group, flashlight in hand, Will's hand in the other.

Lou noticed how much the boy had changed since she first knew him. At the Battle of Manhattan, when Lou Ellen first ever noticed him, he had been brooding and creepy. He kept away from most and was with the dead more than the living. Lou Ellen never judged him, though. She knew what it was like to have a "creepy" godly parent. Hecate was often thought of as a witch or a necromancer, but she was mostly regarded as the Goddess of Magic, so Lou was given more of a break than the Child of Hades, but that didn't mean she was a stranger to sideways glances.

Either way, he never would be within 5 feet of another person, much less in physical contact with them. Nico had always pushed people, both metaphorically and physically, so it came as much of a surprise when Nico first willingly let Will examine him, without having to argue for hours in order to do it. Now, he was holding his hand.

Gods, it was so obvious.

Cecil had just complained about the long walk for the millionth time when they finally saw some light.

"Land!" The red haired boy exclaimed.

"We've been on land," Nico deadpanned.

"You people have no sense of humor," Cecil shook his head, feigning disappointment.

"And you have no common sense or competence," Lou Ellen remarked, earning a laugh from Will and even a snort from Nico, which was pretty rare.

"Touché," Cecil merely shrugged.

They gladly walked towards the light and the found themselves in a hall type room... with a do,e shaped roof...and carvings in the walls...and Straight ahead of them...were were 2 identical doorways.

Lou Ellen cursed at herself. Of course she had made the wrong decision. All they had asked of her was to pick a damn door.

"Damn it," Nico hissed.

"Well, I mean, it's fine. Let's just go through the other door and continue on our way," Will smiled.

"Will, you don't get it," Lou began, "Time passes differently in the Labyrinth. We could have just wasted a few days!"

"Hey, it's fine," Cecil reassured her, "No point in getting all riled up, what's done is done and now we should just continue. ONWARD MY GOOD FELLOWS!"

Lou shook her head, that boy was stupid, but she was grateful for him making her feel better, or trying to anyways.

They proceeded to the door to the right, Lou had an uneasy feeling settle into her stomach. They entered and it was identical to the door on the left, it was just a long, dark, tunnel.

They kept walking for a bit when Nico suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Will asked.

"Shhh," Nico hissed.

We listened. There was nothing.

Nico straightened out himself, pun not intended, and said, "Yeah, guess I'm just paranoid."

We continued walking when Nico stopped again, "Nope, there's definitely something there."

All of a sudden a wall formed in front of Nico, and another tunnel appeared to his left. He looked back at us and Will shrugged, signaling for him to continue. We continued walking when the same thing happened. We kept walking.

The walls kept changing and by this point, they just continued walking. The wall changed yet again and Cecil was about to keep walking when Nico thrust out his hand, stopping him before he could walk off the edge. Yup, the next tunnel just led straight down. Cecil's eyes widened as he looked down before he stumbled back.

"Now what?" Lou asked.

"We jump!" Cecil suggested.

"Are you crazy?!" Will exclaimed.

"Yes, I thought we established this," Cecil responded.

"Well, what better choice do we have?" Nico asked, pointing behind them. A wall formed behind the four.

Stupid walls.

"Are we seriously gonna jump?! Um I don't think us splatting onto the ground is a better option," Lou gulped.

"Well, who knows what's down there? It may be safe...ish," Nico said.

"Yeah, for all we know our fall would be cushioned by pillows and stuffed animals," Cecil said.

"For that, you're jumping first." Nico stepped aside and gestured for Cecil to go.

"What?! Why me?!"

"Any objections?" Nico asked the rest of the group.

Silence.

Cecil gulped and walked to the edge. He looked back, "Are we sure this is a-AHHHHHHHH!"

Nico pushed him off.

"NICO!" Will screamed at him, looking down for his best friend.

"What?!" Nico asked, innocently.

A second later, "I'M STILL FALLING!"

Lou Ellen's eyes widened. 'Nico...what if you just pushed him into... Tarturus...?"

Will gaped at Nico like a fish, expression filled with worry.

"Nah," Nico said confidently, "We would feel it if it was Tarturus."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience?" Will said in a questioning tone.

When Nico didn't respond, Lou Ellen asked, "How can we be positively sure?" She was genuinely concerned for the annoying red haired boy. Sure he was stupid, but he helped her a lot, without even realizing it.

"Like this," Nico jumped off.

"Nico!" Will yelled.

No response.

"Well?" Lou Ellen asked.

"I guess... We jump!" He jumped off the edge next.

What if she was right before?! They could be falling to their deaths right now. Should she follow suite? Lou Ellen sighed, _We are so gonna regret this,_ before jumping off.

So much for the "If your friends jump off a cliff, would you do it too?" talk. _Yes. Yes I would._


	10. Chapter 8 Cecil's POV

As soon as the last person, Lou Ellen, landed, Cecil glared at them (his expression was too filled with humor to be taken seriously, though.)

"Gee, thanks guys. Good to know you really care about me."

"No problem," Nico said while helping Will up.

Lou Ellen, clutching her stomach, choked out, "You guys are so stupid." When she finally regained her composure she scolded them, "DO YOU KNOW HOW STUPID AND UNSAFE THAT WAS?!"

Cecil snorted, "Well you did it too."

Lou Ellen glared at him, "What choice did I have?! You idiots jumped off and what was I supposed to do?! Just wait to hear whether you died or not?!"

Will, starting to sense how shaken she really was, calmed her down, "Lou, hey, come on. We're demigods. We've done much more dangerous things."

Cecil added, "Exactly. We're demigods, we're impulsive."

"Guess I'm not a demigod then," Lou glared again.

"Aw come on, you know if we hadn't jumped first, you'd have."

"No! I would not have!" Lou Ellen said, indignantly.

"Okay calm down. You're starting to argue more than Will and I," Nico said.

"Sweetie, we've been arguing way before you too, if anything _you've_ been sounding like _us_ ," Cecil said.

"What did you call me?"

"GUYS!" Will yelled at them. Oh god, he was going into his mother hen mode. "Let's calm down. Lou, it's fine. We're fine. You're right, it was impulsive. We should have thought it through, but no point in arguing. Next time we'll try to be more levelheaded. Cecil, stop pestering Nico."

"Hmph. You didn't say anything about Nico." Cecil crosses his arms.

"Well just appreciate the fact that I have nothing to scold him about for once."

"Hey!" Nico protested indignantly.

"So," Will continued, "What now?"

After they had jumped they were falling straight down but then all of a sudden a sort of ramp formed under them and dumped them off in yet another tunnel.

"Well I suppose-" Lou stopped speaking when the ground on which they were walking began to shake.

"Maybe the tunnels are gonna change again?" Cecil asked more than said, fully aware his voice was up an octave.

That's when they heard the loud grunt of a bull.

"Maybe not," Cecil gulped.

 _I guess Lou was right about the left door_ , Cecil thought as he turned into another tunnel.

They saw a large figure barreling down the tunnel and so, naturally, they took off running. They simply continued running, following the man in the lead, obviously Nico, not bothering to look back at the huge creature behind them. The only sound coming from them was the loud panting of their breath and their foot steps as they ran to get away from the loud, thundering sound of hooves.

Suddenly, Nico yelled to them, "There's a door here!" And he went through.

 _Damn, Lou was right... again... We are impulsive._ And so they followed and ducked into the room.

Lou locked the door behind them, and they were about to give a sigh of relief, but of course that's never something a demigod can do.

A feminine voice yelled to them, "Oh visitors! How lovely! I haven't had visitors in... well... not that long. The last were your sister," she pointed a pale, slender finger at Nico, "and that tinkerer." She looked utterly disgusted when she choked out the last word.

They looked up. The room they were in reminded him of the Pantheon in Rome, only, with more Underworld-y decor.

The obsidian walls were carved with scenes of death, all of it embelished with precious gems. Somehow, it seemed to make the place even more creepy. Cecil glanced over at Nico, who had a hard expression. He looked like he recognized this place, and sure as Tartarus didn't wanna be here. In the center of the room, stood a tall woman. She had pale skin, dark hair piled into a cone, encircled with diamonds and emeralds, and a face that would have been beautiful and regal if it wasn't contorted into a sneer. She was dressed in an elegant sleeveless dressed that seemed to be woven from gold.

"Who's she?" Cecil whispered to the others, jerking his head at the dark haired witch lady.

Before Nico could respond, Lou breathed out, sounding impressed for some reason, "Pasiphaë."

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Hey guys! Short chapter, sorry 'bout that. I'm not doing too well with the whole "Just wing it" approach with writing. Hopefully the next will be longer and will be coming out soon. I'm also really sorry about the writing, it's definitely not my best work. Hopefully that'll get better too. Jeez, I'm doing a lot more hoping than writing. Anyways, thank you so much for reading, I love you guys, please review and constructive criticism is always welcome. 000 Nico di Angelo 000 wins the award for most reviews so far! Thx so much, your reviews always make my day. K, love you guys, bye!


	11. Author's note Again

Hey guys. It's me again. Obviously. I decided to take a break from posting for a while, but I'm still going to be writing. Basically, I'll continuing writing the chapters but I just won't post them. I've noticed that one, the writing is really bad. It's not bad, just worse than how I usually write. Two, it's looking a lot like this other fan fiction The Plea Of Apollo so far. It's my favorite fan fiction yet and it's what inspired me to start writing. (you guys should check it out) The whole point of writing something is to make something original, and I really don't like how similar it is to that storyline so far. I'm going to write the whole story, then go back and edit and make sure that it's not just a copy of another story, and of course improve the writing. It's easier for me to deal with my writing as a whole rather than individual chapters for some reason. Don't expect a new chapter any time soon but just know that I haven't forgotten about this story! I will try to post as soon as possible. Thx again for reading this and putting up with my on and off posting schedule, I love you guys, bye!


	12. Chapter 9 Will's POV

Okay. I changed my mind again. I made a plan and I'm not sticking to it. Here's a new chapter. And yes, it is out of order. This should be Nico's POV but I wrote it in Will's so...

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With a cocky smirk, Pasiphaë began, "Indeed young girl," but then, she seemed to realize something as her smirk fell and was replaced with an expression of hatred. "You," she sneered, "You are a daughter of Hecate."

Lou Ellen gulped.

"That no good, traitorous witch. Your mother helped that retched girl defeat me. They humiliated me! Here, in my wake, are scum related to two of the people I hate the most. Now you and that hell-spawn will pay!"

Nico drew forth his Stygian Iron Sword, a look of determination glinted in his eyes.

"Pasiphaë," he spat out, "You will not touch any of us. We wish you no harm. Grant us safe passage, or at least let us go, and we will be on our way. We don't have to fight."

"You don't understand!" She growled at him, " _I_ must. _I_ have to. Your sister and that witch humiliated me! They trapped me in my own creation! I must take revenge!"

"You deserved it," Lou Ellen barked back at her, "You were aiding Gaea and the giants who only wanted to cause harm, who wanted to wipe out our kind. You helped chain the Doors of Death, allowing monsters to roam free and leave terror in their wake."

She thrust out her hand and chains burst out of the ground, snaking around the four demigods.

"Pasiphaë!" Nico shouted, "let us go and don't be a coward. Fight us without these parlor tricks, hand to hand."

"What do you take me for, boy? Stupid?! For that, I'll put you first in line for torture, before that silly Hecate girl. Child of Hermes, Child of Apollo, sit there quietly like good boys and MAYBE I'll grant you a quicker death."

Pasiphaë pointed to Nico and curled her index finger in in a "come here" motion. The chains dragged Nico towards her as Will yelled out, "Nico!"

Pasiphaë knelt down and stroked his face gently, ignoring Will as he growled, "Don't touch him!" Cecil was fiddling with the chains, trying to pick the lock, but there wasn't any.

"Hmm," Pasiphaë hummed, "How should I go about torturing you? I should drive you mad, your sister will forever fear me after seeing what I reduced her poor, strong brother to."

Nico kept up his brave facade, but Will could see it was beginning to crumble.

Nico stared at her with a glare that should have scared even Thanatos, but Pasiphaë merely shrugged it off.

"But how could I torture you? You've been through so much already, what could be more painful than everything you were forced to deal with in your short mortal life? What could be more painful than," she smirked, "Tartarus."

Nico's eyes widened with fear and she waved her hand in front of his face. His eyes began to glaze over, becoming cloudy. His hard glare wavered and slowly, an expression of terror took over his features.

Meanwhile, Lou whispered to Cecil and Will, "Okay, um, so, she made these chains using the mist. I may be able to use my control over the mist to do something about it. Just- just keep her eyes off of me." Cecil nodded but Will wasn't paying attention at all.

The chains around Nico fell off. He stood up and looked around, though seemingly staring at nothing.

"N-Nico?" Will stuttered.

Nico just stood there, staring at absolute nothingness. Then, all of a sudden, he fell to his knees and clutched his ears.

Will frantically began struggling in his bonds, he _needed_ to get to his Death Boy. "Pasiphaë! What are you doing to him?! Let him go!"

"But why should I? Look at all the fun we're having! Isn't that right, Nico?" She chuckled.

Nico was gripping his hair so tightly his knuckles turned white. He suddenly jumped up and began swinging his sword wildly, "Don't come any closer! Don't touch me! Please... Don't..." he pleaded.

The dread in his voice made Will's heart clench. Will called out to him, "Nico! Nico! Hey, listen to me, Death boy. It's not real, okay? It's an illusion. It's just the mist. It's Pasiphaë. Fight it, Death boy!"

Nico turned to Will. Will almost breathed a sigh of relief, maybe he was finally getting through to him. The next thing Nico said felt like it punched him in the gut, "B-Bianca?"

Will's heart ached at the despair and pain in his voice.

"Bianca why did you leave? Why are you leaving again?!" Nico pleaded.

Will continued to call out to him, "Come on, Nico. Come on, Death boy. Snap out of it! I'm sorry but Bianca's not really here, but I am. Listen to my voice, snap out of it!"

Nico began scooting backwards, "B-Bianca? What are you doing? What's happening? M-Mamma? Mamma aiutami, Bianca's acting strangely. Oh no mamma not you too."

"Nico! Nico please! They're not here! You're in the labyrinth!"

"Mamma, Bianca please. No no no don't shoot. It's me, Nico, don't you remember me? Non mi ami?"

Nico looked hurt, as if whomever he was seeing was saying something to him, something that hurt him.

"Death boy, please!"

"Lou, hurry up," Cecil urged her on.

"I'm trying, gods damn it!" She shot back.

Nico now was thrashing around, as if being beaten up. His broken voice pleaded, "Please... Per favore... Bianca..."

Pasiphaë was cackling wildly as she let her fingers dance in the airs, creating illusions with the mist.

Will just kept pleading helplessly to Nico as Nico writhed on the ground in pain. It seemed like there was people beating him. "Reyna... No... Jason per favore... Hazel..."

It was at the last word when Will knew that he had to get Pasiphaë away from Nico. "Will..."

At that, Will yelled to Pasiphaë, "Hey, Pasiphaë! Wow, I thought you were a strong, powerful sorceress. Clearly not. You can't even face Hecate or Hazel yourself, so you have to resort to torturing their family." His words didn't seem to be getting through to her. _Well, desperate times call for desperate measures._

"Huh, no wonder you slept with a bull. Cuz you were a _cow_ ard and couldn't even get a human to love you."

At that, Nico stopped writhing. Pasiphaë dropped her hands and was now staring at Will, pure hatred just dripping from her gaze. Nico weakly pushed himself up and looked around in fear and confusion.

"Will... What did you just do..." Cecil gazed at the two of them wide eyed.

"I WAS **CURSED**!" She swiped her hand at him and he felt himself fall to the ground.

After a second, he opened his eyes. He was back at Camp Half-Blood, in the Apollo cabin. Was it a dream? Did they actually not go on that quest? He looked around and realized the cabin was empty. Maybe it was breakfast? His siblings surely would have woken him up.

He got up out of bed and opened the door. He was greeted with a ghastly image. Demigods were strewn across the grass all over. Will dropped by each of the bodies, checking for a pulse, but there was none. There were monsters in the distance. He was about to seriously panic when he heard a feeble croak, "Will?"

He turned around and saw all the people he loved on the ground, bloody broken and bruised. Lou Ellen and Cecil were clutching each other, even after death. His mom's body was there too, for some reason. He saw most of his siblings and finally, the person who croaked out his name.

"Will..."

He ran over bent down by Nico. He was fading. Fast. Will began singing hymns to Apollo, singing the ones that praised him the most, praying he would hear and give Will the power he needed to save Nico. His Nico. His efforts were futile as Nico was 97% shadow at that point. Will cried and attempted to hold his Death boy, but his hands slipped right through him. He croaked out, "Will... You failed me..." before completely fading into shadows.

It was Will's worst nightmare, and it had come true. He couldn't save anyone, not even those he loved. He couldn't help fight off the monsters, he was the most useless demigod in the world. The only demigod who couldn't fight. All he could do was heal, he couldn't sing or play instruments like Austin, shoot a bow like Kayla, even his 7 year old sister Abby could rhyme better than him. He was nothing but a healer, and he even failed at that. He couldn't heal any of them. He couldn't have his mom, his siblings, his best friends, his Nico. He couldn't do anything. It shouldn't have been them, it should have been him, it should have been-

"Will!"

He woke up to the sound of Nico whisper/shouting his name. "Come on, Sunshine, we've gotta go."

"Hm?" He noticed that his head was in Nico's lap, Nico's hands were in his hair, and he was trying to get him to stand up.

"We've gotta go. Lou put Pasiphaë to sleep, but it won't last long. Come on."

He didn't wanna go. He liked being there. His head in Nico's lap, feeling his warm, _solid_ hands. Knowing that he was alive, that he was fine, but he knew they had to go.

He pushed himself up and let Nico drag him out, into another tunnel. Nico's warm hand on his, his pulse thumping against Will's fingers. That's all he wanted, and he intended to keep him that way.


	13. Chapter 10 Nico's POV

To whomever reviewed saying "omgs that was hard to read", you probably shouldn't read this chapter.

Warning: mild swearing. Well, it's technically only one word, but still. May be offensive, I don't know. It was not intended to offend anyone by it so I'm sorry if it did. May get a little graphic at the end, I wouldn't recommend the last bit to the faint of heart. I mean I don't think it's TOO bad but I have been told to make it known that you shouldn't read it at night. You have been warned.

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About an hour ago they found an exit from the labyrinth. Nothing had bothered them on their journey out. The thing chasing them before was probably the minotaur, and with Pasiphaë out cold he probably didn't have the command to come stop us.

What felt like a few hours in the labyrinth had actually been 5 days. Perhaps they would have been better off just going by boat. He knew he would, despite his seasickness, and Will didn't look any better either.

They hadn't let go of each other since. Now they were simply holding hands but before they probably looked like a couple, Nico's arm around Will's waist and Will's arm around his shoulders.

 _Before?_ His mind said.

 _Shut up._ He, technically also his mind, shot back.

Lou Ellen and Cecil knew to give them some space. They saw Will and Nico scream and act like they were insane from those visions. Gods, that was embarrassing. Nico di Angelo does not scream. He doesn't show weakness. Does he feel it? Obviously. Did anyone need to know? Of course not.

Lou Ellen got them a room using the mist to trick the mortals into thinking the drachmas were mortal money. It's still money, just a different kind.

"Hey Cecil," Lou Ellen began, it was the first thing any of them has said since leaving the labyrinth, "Let's go buy some supplies."

"You want me to come when you're planning on _buying_ things? I'm the one person no one ever invites to go shopping with them."

"Just come on, idiot." Lou Ellen practically dragged him out.

When they left, Will turned to Nico and brushed a strand of hair out of his face. He didn't ask _"Are you okay?"_ or any of that bull schist, and he was grateful for that. Of course he wasn't okay, and clearly Will wasn't either.

"Do you wanna go to bed?" Will asked, tenderness in his voice. He loved that about Will. No matter what he was going through, he still managed to be a caring idiot.

Did he say- oh shut up, Di Angelo. Yes, he said love. _I'll deal with you in the morning._ He told himself.

He nodded to Will, ignoring the argument in his head.

They crawled into bed together, not bothering to think twice about it. After what he had seen, Nico just wanted to feel Will's oddly comforting warmth. Will wrapped Nico in his strong arms and for once, he was able to go to sleep immediately. He felt safe. Of course, good things aren't meant to last

He was back. It was as if he never woke up.

 _He knew exactly where he was. He could immediately recognize that acidic air that killed you with each breath. The sandy ground that cut your feet like walking on crushed glass. The tremors with each breath_ it _took. He was back. He was in Tartarus._

 _He got up and raised his sword, you could never be off guard in this place._

 _He saw monsters approaching, nothing he hadn't dealt with before. Then, he saw them. The twin giants. Ephialtes and Otis._

 _They approached him, wicked smiles on their faces. There was a bronze jar in the distance behind them. They reached out towards him._

 _"Don't come any closer! Don't touch me! Please... Don't..." He probably sounded pathetic, and he certainly felt that way too. He spent days in that jar, surviving off of some goddamn pomegranate seeds. No real food, water, oxygen, just some tart fruit surrounding a seed. He was not about to go through that again._

 _Then, a light shimmered behind him. He turned around._

 _"B-Bianca?"_

 _There she was. She was dressed in a parka and her hair was swept over her shoulder in a braid. Her bow and quiver of arrows was slung over her other shoulder. She was right there, within his reach..._

 _"Bianca why did you leave?"_

 _She turned around._

 _"Why are you leaving again?!"_

 _She wasn't. She went to go tell something to those monsters. What was she doing? Why was she speaking with them? She turned back around and notched an arrow, aiming at not the monsters, but Nico._

 _"B-Bianca? What are you doing? What's happening?"_

 _Then, another shimmering light. The image of his mother appeared. He only ever saw her in dreams, he doesn't even have any memories of what she looked like, they were washed away by the Lethe. He usually forgets the image once he's woken up. She's so beautiful. She looked like an older version of Bianca. He vaguely remembered his mother's voice telling him he took after his father, though he used to have his mother's hair and complexion before Bianca's death._

 _"M-Mamma? Mamma aiutami, Binca's acting strangely."_

 _His mother gave no sign of even hearing his words, she only pulled out a knife._

 _"Oh no mamma, not you too."_

 _Bianca gave a harsh laugh, it was her voice, but he'd never heard her laugh like that._

 _"Look at him, mamma. Pleading for help like a little boy. 'Aiutami! Aiutami!' Some soldatino you are."_

 _What? Bianca would never say something like that. Never... Soldatino, that was what she would call him. Il mio piccolo soldatino, my little soldier. She used to say it was because he was brave, but she was right. He wasn't brave. He's just some little kid alone in the literal depths of hell, nearly going insane._

 _"Mamma, Bianca, please."_

 _Bianca pulled back the arrow._

 _"No no no. Don't shoot. It's me, Nico. Don't you remember me. Non mi ami?"_

 _"Hah!" His mother gave a sharp laugh. "Don't we love you? How could I do that? I can put all my love in patatina mia right here. She never was as annoying as you. She was responsible, outgoing, and everything you weren't. Hades was right, it should have been you."_

 _Her words stung, like he had been bitten by a venomous snake. She was right. Who would love him? He was a son of Hades, feared by all. He was weird, antisocial, and pushed everyone away. He could also control the dead, he was the Ghost King. Everyone was terrified of him. The ghosts only do what he says out of fear, and living people don't want to become his new subjects. Even those who don't fear him, such as his family who were all related to Hades, couldn't love him. He had failed Bianca. She was dead, and he wasn't. He could have been less annoying, less of a brat. He could have made Bianca feel like she wasn't always babysitting him, so maybe she wouldn't have joined the hunters. Maybe she would have stayed, and been safe._

 _Finally, Bianca released her arrow. It grazed Nico in the side, and the sulphurous air only made it sting worse. The monsters took that as a green light and began attacking. Nico easily could have fought them off, but he didn't want to accidentally hit his mother who had joined the fray, armed with a knife. Bianca continued firing arrows._

 _"Please... Per favore... Bianca..."_

 _Soon enough, another person he cared deeply about joined the fight._

 _"Reyna... No..."_

 _"Hello, Nico. What? Are you surprised? Why? Did you really think I loved you? Awww did you think you were like, what was it, a little brother to me? I don't need siblings, and if I did it certainly wouldn't be you. Right, Hazel?"_

 _"Hazel..."_

 _"Trust, you wouldn't want this one. He never stuck around. He was never there when I needed him. He was selfish. And now? He's embarrassing. He scares off my friends, Frank probably had a terrible impression of children of Pluto before we started becoming closer. It's a miracle I could undo to mess you made. The mess you leave behind. Wherever you go, there is terror. Fear. Bianca would have been an amazing big sister. If only I had her, but sadly, I'm left with you. You are no big brother of mine."_

 _"Or little bro, in my case."_

 _"Jason... Per favore..."_

 _"I mean seriously? A gay fag like him? I almost felt sorry for you when Eros made you come out to me. I mean, no wonder you kept it a secret. You had a crush on Percy Jackson._ The _Percy Jackson. What made you think you were anywhere in his league? Percy and I, we're bros. But you? You're below us. You're just some worthless scum, a nuisance we have to call our 'little bro' cuz we're nice. You really don't deserve us."_

 _"Gay fag, did you say?"_

 _Nico's head snapped up at that voice. He'd never hear Will speak with anything other than kindness in his voice, even when chiding patients. Now, it was full of venom._

 _"Will..."_

 _"Huh, you didn't have a crush on me did you? You weren't expecting me to love you back though, right? That would be foolish. I know you're a fool, but come on. You thought I'd have a crush on_ you _?! You thought I'd like you back?! That really is sad. I'm way out of your league. You seem to have a thing for out-of-your-league guys. I'm caring, and way hotter than you. My dad's Apollo for a reason."_

 _Ugh, he even had a messed up sense of humor when trying, and succeeding, to hurt me._

 _"You're stubborn and ugly. I've seen your scars. They litter your body like the trash that you are. You are bruised, broken, and scarred. Both mentally and physically. Besides, I'm a healer. You're a fighter. Actually, a fighter implies that there's something from both ends. You're a killer. You mercilessly and ruthlessly kill monsters, and demigods. Octavian. I'm disgusted by you. You murdered him. Shot him into the sky, consequently killing Leo too. Killed two birds with one onager. And not to mention Bryce Lawrence. Yeah, I know about him. What you did to him, cruel. You're a monster, Nico. A monster. Death Boy, you bring death wherever you go. Death would have been kinder than what you did to him. You tore his soul out of him. You made him into a mindless ghost. Took his identity. No rebirth, no second chances. And he was a kid too, Nico! A kid like the both of us. How can I, a healer, be in love with you, a monster?"_

 _All through this he was being kicked, punched, stabbed, trampled, shot, hit, struck, bitten, but nothing hurt like these words. He thought he had finally done it. He had finally found people who cared. But he was wrong. He didn't deserve love. He couldn't have it. That's why he was in this place. Tartarus, where else could he be put. He wasn't wanted anywhere. And here, in literal hell, he was being ripped apart. He was half dead, half of his body reduced to mush. Bones were protruding out of his skin, one of his ribs pierced into his lung. His brain was sliding out of the remains of his skull. Internal bleeding, significant blood loss, brain damage. What was the point? Why was he here? Why was he still holding on for? He should just go. Grant the people he loves the simple pleasure of ending him once and for all. He could just go. Why was he holding on to life? To sanity? He could just... He should just.. He could killjn himndil. Hth if cfir csfgb. Finskkb. Endu. EMD OE DPP_ _ **HAHAHAHAHAHA**_

"Nico! Wake up!"

Huh. Will sounded... Concerned... Almost... Why? He was just telling Nico about he didn't care about him. Well, why should I care? I've gone into a state of madness. No sanity. I-

"Nico! Please, come on!"

Nico shot up. He looked around. He wasn't there anymore. He wasn't in Tartarus. He was in a hotel room... And next to him was... Will?

"Nico, are you okay?! Your pulse is crazy fast right now. Are- are you crying?" He reached forward and wiped the tears off his face.

"No.. This... This is a dream..." Nico shook his head. He really had gone insane, he was seeing things like this while dying in Tartarus. It was so vivid too.

Will cupped his face in his hands, "This isn't a dream, Angel. This is real. Whatever that was before, that was a dream. A nightmare. This is real. I am real."

Nico didn't believe it, but he didn't want to end this dream just yet. It was nice.

Nico nodded snuggled into Will. Will wrapped his arms around Nico and pulled him in closer, he smelled weird, but not in a bad way. Like antiseptic and sunscreen. Woah, di Angelo. Just because this is a dream doesn't mean you can go thinking like that.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Will asked, running his hands through Nico's hair.

He shook his head, "You?"

"Me?! You were the one who had the nightmare."

"And you were the one who didn't sleep."

"How did you know that?!"

"Well I didn't wake up Lou Ellen or Cecil," he looked over to wear Lou Ellen was on the bed next to theirs, sound asleep, and Cecil was on the pull out bed in the couch, "yet you were awake and able to wake me up. And don't say, 'Yeah, but I was right next to you' because Lou's bed is right there. You were either awake or only half asleep, meaning something's bothering you."

"Damn, Sherlock. You're one good deductionist."

Nico rolled his eyes, "Whatever, Watson. So, you wanna talk about what's been keeping you awake?"

Will shrugged, he couldn't see him in the dark but he could feel his muscles tense and relax. He was in surprisingly good shape...

"It was just the thing Pasiphaë showed me. But, she was just showing us our greatest fears. It wasn't real, and as long as I know that I'm good." He didn't sound too sure about that, but Nico didn't egg him on.

Maybe... Maybe this wasn't a dream. He sighed contentedly as he leaned against Will, once again feeling safe in his arms, and this time, no nightmares plagued Nico in his sleep; only dreams about beaches and wearing sun lotion and hand sanitizer.

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I'm not insane, I swear. Well, kind of. The dark stuff isn't meant to scare anyone and just saying, I don't think any of what I wrote. Which doesn't make any sense. To be fair, I wrote this after watching Avengers: Endgame. Not giving any spoilers but I was heartbroken. You can't blame me. But...Finally! A Solangelo moment! ...after a bunch of depressing stuff yeah yeah, but still!

And Yes, I know a little Italian. But only because of Duolingo, so my Italian is probably wrong.

Patatina means "little potato" which is actually a term of endearment for your kids in Italy, fun fact.

K bye!


	14. Chapter 11 Lou Ellen's POV

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been busy; which is my excuse every time. Yeah yeah, I know. My update schedule remains to be inconsistent, but I'll probably only post on weekends, so if you don't get too bored with me you can always check on weekends to see if I've posted. Anyways, sorry about last chapter. I wrote it right after watching Endgame so I was just in that kind of mood. Anyways, here's the next chapter!

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The next morning came way too early for Lou's liking. What? Fighting one of your mother's took a lot outta ya.

It's nearly impossible to get a good night's sleep when you're sharing a room with Will. The minute the clock strikes 6:00 he jumps up and does whatever morning people do. You know, brushing his teeth, fixing his hair, singing with birds.

She wished she was joking about the last part.

Lou Ellen groggily woke up to the sound of him ruffling through bags and just being loud in general.

"Would it kill you to be a little more quiet?" Lou groaned.

"Yes, because then you guys wouldn't be awake," he said, smiling.

Cecil and she got up, Cecil grumbling the whole way.

"Nico! You too!" Will sang.

He threw the blankets off of the smaller goth kid. Nico simply grunted and curled up.

"NNNNNNIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCOOOOOOO!" Will began tugging on his arm. He sounded just like a kid throwing a tantrum at the candy store.

"Go back to sleep..." Nico mumbled into his pillow.

"But the sky's awake, so I'm awake, so we have to quest!" Will plopped down onto the bed next to Nico.

Nico looked at him, at least that woke him up. "Is that a reference to something I should know about?"

Will looked at him in shock.

"Dude," Cecil deadpanned, "You've never seen Frozen?!"

"Ummmm... Should I have...?" Nico asked.

"We are seeing them all as soon as we get back," Will resolved.

"Well first we have to get back. So all of you better get off your _braccae_ and get ready," Lou Ellen said before slamming the bathroom door.

She could clearly hear Will's efforts in getting Nico up and Cecil's "encouragement", which was really only pissing Will off and getting several snorts in amusement from Nico.

She got in the shower and felt the hot water touch her skin. (a/n: is it weird to have a scene in the shower?)

She got thinking about the previous night. She was successfully able to get her friends out. Of course, she never would have been able to full on beat Pasiphaë herself, but she was at least able to stall some time. Of course, she could have done a much better job, maybe she could have even gotten them enough time to locate the nearest exit to Greece, but she never can think very well in the heat of the moment. Which is bad, considering the heat of the moment is when you need the most thinking. Just simply knocking her out was the best she could do.

And she couldn't do it fast enough either. One of her best friends, Will, and Nico, with whom she was in the slow process of befriending, were forced to go through some psychological schist, and she couldn't do anything for a good 10 minutes. What had they even seen? When Cecil and she got back, Will was still awake. It seemed he couldn't sleep, but he didn't even notice them. He was just looking at Nico, thinking intently. And, Nico had woken up crying. _Crying._ She had never seen him, the son of Hades, with a waver in his step. No look of fear, panic in his eyes, nothing. Then that day, she had seen him scream and even heard Will comment that he was crying. Whatever they had seen must have been horrible, and she couldn't even properly defeat Pasiphaë, to avenge her friends.

She got out to find a finally awake Nico, grumbling as he made his way past her to the shower. He really didn't mornings. Or anything. Probably the only person she could get along with.

Will was humming as he was trying to figure out a map. The Hephaestus cabin unfortunately still did not make technology that could repel monsters, so they couldn't just use Google Maps.

"Damn it, dyslexia. Why do they make the words so small?!" Will groaned and dropped the map onto the table.

"Obviously cuz they like torturing poor demigods. Mapmakers: the true enemy. Probably in league with the monsters," Cecil joked.

"Let me see that," Lou offered. She picked up the map and snapped her fingers. "There. It's Ancient Greek." She tossed the map to Will.

"Huh. Thanks, Lou," Will said.

"Anytime," Lou smirked.

"So we're in Italy?" Nico said, suddenly behind Will.

Cecil jumped. "Dang it, di Angelo! Damn, how do you do that?"

Nico smirked, "I have my ways."

"As long as they're not shadow travel, I'm good," Will remarked.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Anyways, according to this brochure, we're in Tricase, Italy. I think I might have had relatives from here, cuz I vaguely remember this place. There's a beach. Maybe we can take a boat? It's pretty close to Greece. I mean I can just shadow travel-"

"NO!" Will interrupted, "We can take a boat."

"Great, now where do we get one?" Lou crossed her arms.

"Leave that to me," Cecil said, rubbing his palms together. That's never a good sign.

"Cecil? What are you planning?" Lou asked.

"Well I am a son of Hermes-" he began.

"No stealing," Lou glared at him.

"What makes you think I'm gonna steal it?! I was just planning on praying to my father, god of _travel._

Lou rolled her eyes, "As if that were true."

Cecil huffed, "Fine. But I can do both."

"Just pray to your father," Nico said, rubbing his temples.

Cecil closed his eyes and began muttering. A few moments later he opened his eyes, "Um, so, my dad said 'yeah, sure thing, son' and then just kinda cut off the connection so..."

All of a sudden a flash of light appeared behind Cecil. He turned around, "D-Dad?"

Sure enough, right behind him was the god Hermes, in the form of a man. He was tall, muscular, and handsome, as all gods are. Well, except for Dionysus, but he's a whole other story. He had black salt-and-pepper hair, but shared Cecil's blue eyes; everything from the color to the mischievous glint. They both had slightly elfish ears and looks that made you want to clutch your bag tighter.

The first to break out of their stupor, mainly because he wasn't in one in the first place, was Nico, who knelt down at once and said "Lord Hermes."

The rest then followed suit, Hermes looking amused, "No need for that, you may rise."

Getting up, Cecil said, "D-Dad. Hi. Um. Wh-What are you doing here?"

Hermes cocked and eyebrow, "You called, didn't you?"

"Well yeah but I was kind of just expecting like boat tickets or something. Or a plane. Or a train. I'm not like complaining or anything but-."

"What he means-" Nico interrupted his ramblings, "is that he is grateful for you taking your time to help us."

Hermes just looked even more amused, like a thief who was stealing from a bunch of terrified people even though he wasn't posing much of a threat. "I came to not only take you, but warn you."

Will gulped, "About?"

Lou knew exactly what he was thinking, It was so bad that a god had to personally warn them?

"I have been good friends with Apollo since I invented the lyre," Hermes explained, "So naturally, I'm concerned, and I wish to help. Zeus ordered all the gods to not help him or to answer to any prayers from his children, which is why I answered to the prayers pf my son. I don't know whether Zeus made that loop hole on purpose or I just figured it out, I am the God of Tricksters after all," he smiled with a glint of humor in his eyes.

"Why would Zeus make a loop hole on purpose?" Lou Ellen interrupted curiously. Realizing what he had done, she flushed red and stuttered out, "L-Lord Hermes."

"I almost forgot how funny you mortals were. Anyways, it's because he's got an ego." He looked up and apologized, "No offense, I was just saying."

"Anyways," he continued, "he knew he had to punish Apollo, he didn't want to seem like a pushover. He punished him and now this happened and he won't even allow anyone to help him because he can't seem too soft!" Hermes gradually lost the humor in his voice as he spoke, it gradually got replaced with hardness and anger.

"What do you mean? What's wrong with my dad?" Will asked, even more concerned than before.

"I don't know if I can say," Hermes admitted, "but Zeus never said I couldn't, so I guess I'm going to anyways. Zeus's punishment for him was to make him a mortal. He was stripped of his powers and sent down to Earth. He was just supposed to go to Camp Half-Blood and live as a mortal for some time, but something sort of got in the way of those plans. He got kidnapped. I don't really know what happened, Zeus never informed me, but now he's been captured Python. I don't know what he's planning, but I know it's bad,"

"Wait, but then why are you so concerned?" Cecil asked.

"Python has been in Tartarus for millennia, meaning he's had that long to come up with a plan for revenge. And he's ambitious and cunning too. When he wants to do something, he does it, and he does it well. Everything is thought through with him, and that too he got a millennia to really work out the kinks. I'm sure that whatever it is is going to be bad," he said.

Will turned pale during that, and Nico was looking at him with concern.

"Thank you for that, um, Lord Hermes? Father?" Cecil stuttered.

It was so weird seeing him like that, he was always the confident, silly one. To be fair, she would be a trembling mess if she ever met her mother, but it kind of made her feel...better?...to see him like that. Gods that sounded weird. It just kinda made her feel more like she wasn't alone. Even the most confident person she knew was capable of being reduced to a stuttering mess.

"Well I'm not done, we still gotta get you guys to Greece. To Delphi!"

There was a flash of light, then everything went dark.

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Thanks again for reading! Hope you liked it! Sorry, it's a bit short, but I have no excuse sooooo. Well it is 11:40 at night and I just finished a really long research report so maybe that's a good enough excuse. Please review, constructive criticism is always welcomed! Any ideas or suggestions? I'd be happy to hear! K, bye!


	15. Chapter 12 Cecil's POV

It is 2:00 AM and I'm gonna be starting the next chapter now so please excuse... Everything. The grammar, plot, lack of writing skills, the usual. Btw, I don't know what sports cars look like or how MP3 players work so I don't need any manuals getting shipped to my house when you read how incorrect everything is. Ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

There was a flash of light, then everything went dark. When Cecil opened his eyes again, he was lying down on a sandy beach overlooking a sparkling blue sea. He groggily sat up, then turned to see Lou and Will unconscious beside him. _Wait, where's Nico?_

"You're finally up," someone said behind him.

Cecil jumped and saw Nico standing behind him, looking amused at his reaction.

"Dang it, Nico. You could at least make some noise when you approach me!" Cecil exclaimed, dramatically clutching his heart.

Nico rolled his eyes, "But that would completely ruin the effect, duh. Anyways, I just looked around a bit while you guys were out. It seems that we're actually in some place called 'Itea.' It's not too far from Delphi. I assume that Hermes couldn't take us directly into Delphi for a reason, so we'd better be on guard. There's a road not too far from here, we can take it up to the border of Delphi and plan from there."

"Um. Cool," He felt pretty useless, but as long as someone got the job done. He felt Lou stir beside him.

"What happened?" She groaned as she pushed herself up.

"Hermes happened. We're in Greece," Cecil answered.

Will got up next, "Are we in Delphi?!"

"Calm down, Sunshine," Nico smirked, "We're in Itea, which isn't too far. We can hitch a ride and go by car."

"Oh ok. Well what are we waiting for?!" Will jumped up and started swiping away at the sand on his clothes, Nico helping with the occasional swipe, but mostly just commenting on Will's behavior.

Lou got up and looked around. "So... Where's this road?" She asked.

"Follow me," Nico said, leaving Will's side to lead the way. Once they reached the road, they were expecting to see at least a few cars driving down the road, but no such luck.

"What now?" Cecil asked.

"Did your dad give you anything?" Will asked.

"No...?" Cecil said as he searched his pockets and bags for something.

"How about I-" Nico began before Will interrupted, "NO."

"I wasn't gonna say shadow travel," Nico crossed his arms.

"Then what were you gonna suggest?" Will raised his eyebrows.

"I conjure up an old birthday present," Nico smirked. He just loves being all mysterious and surprising, doesn't he. Well, Lou does it better.

"What was that?" Lou asked.

"Hm? Nothing." _Schist, did I say that out loud? Stupid mouth._

"What birthday present...?" Will asked apprehensively.

Nico snapped his fingers. At that moment something came out of the earth. A black sports car dug its way to the surface. Will yelped and Lou looked on in awe. When the car was fully out of the earth, Nico approached and knocked the window. The tinted window rolled down and Nico began making weird chattering noises. Cecil looked at Will like; _Um... Is he alright?_

Nico turned back at them, "Guys, meet Jules Félix Philippe Albert de Dion de Wandonne. Once a French Marquis and racer, now my chauffeur."

Nico stepped aside and Will yelped again. In the window was a zombie. A literal freaking zombie. It didn't look like what you'd see in _The Walking Dead,_ you know, rotting with the flesh falling off and stuff. He looked pretty normal... Almost. He had papery skin that was so pale he was almost green. His hair was stringy and his teeth were rotten. He did have a few spots that looked a little...decomposed...but he mostly didn't look too bad. Definitely scary, though.

When Nico noticed everyone staring, he turned red and began to stutter, "Y-Yeah I know. M-Maybe instead we can just-"

Then Will started bouncing up and down. "DUDE. YOU HAVE A ZOMBIE CHAUFFEUR?! Why was I not informed of this earlier?!"

"I don't know, probably cuz I didn't wanna freak you out," Nico shrugged.

"This is way cooler than it is creepy," Lou commented.

 _So I'm the only one? Cool._

"Well I mean yeah it would be scary but if he's yours then it's cool," Will said, still bouncing.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Nico scrunched his nose in confusion.

"Well I mean who can be scared of you? You're just a little adorable ball of death," Will said, completely unfazed by the look of horror and disgust on Nico's face.

"So..." Lou broke the silence, "Are we getting in?" She sounded kind of excited to go into the mysterious Underworld vehicle.

"Right," Nico said as he climbed into the passenger seat, the other 3 climbed into the back. It was surprisingly nice for a zombie car. Leather seats, fancy.

After about 3 minutes, Will started getting bored. "Nnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiicccccccccooooooo!" Will groaned.

"What?" He snapped.

"I'm bored," he sunk into his seat.

"And I'm annoyed."

"Awww come on."

"What do you want from me?!"

"Play some music."

"Okay," Nico reached forward and turned a few knobs. Soon, Green Day was playing.

"YES!" Lou Ellen exclaimed, before she noticed the zombie chauffeur give her a look through the rearview mirror. She cleared her throat and began again. Why did she care what he thought? Was she developing feelings for the zombie?! Damn, I need a car.

"I meant, um, finally. Someone has good taste in music," she gave the two boys sitting next to her a look.

"What?!" Cecil exclaimed, "I have impeccable taste in music."

"The only music you like that is good is Twenty One Pilots."

"So you admit I have good taste."

"Never said that."

"Never denied it either."

"Fine, you have terrible taste, happy?"

"Is this what we sound like?" Nico asked Will.

"Nah, we're cuter," Will smirked. That earned a blush from Nico and a stuck-out tongue from Cecil.

"Well anyways, we all know who has the best taste in music," Will said confidently.

"Oh? And who's that?" Nico asked sarcastically.

"Me. Cecil, MP3 me," Will stuck out his hand.

"You got it dude," Cecil slapped it into his palm.

"Oh no," Lou plugged her ears.

A second later "Walking on Sunshine" was blasting on full volume.

"WhAt Is ThIs?!" Nico exclaimed, clutching his hands to either side of his head.

"Hell, that's what," Lou Ellen yelled over the music.

"I can hear that," Nico said.

Cecil and Will, on the other hand, were jamming out. Cecil more to annoy Lou, Will because he actually enjoyed the song.

"That's it!" Nico exclaimed. He snapped his fingers and the MP3 player melted right through Will's fingers, earning a squeal from the blond demigod. It materialized in Nico's hand and he shoved it into a compartment.

"How do you even have an MP3 Player? Demigods can't use technology!" Nico questioned.

"Dude," Cecil deadpanned, "I'm a Child of Hermes."

Nico simply shook his head, "Fair enough."

"Now can I have my MP3 Player back?"

"No."

"BUT"

"How about," Lou said, looking exasperated, "We pick a song we all could agree on."

After much arguing, they eventually settled on "Stressed Out" by Twenty One Pilots. Cecil and Will were singing amazingly, in their personal opinions, but terribly to everyone else with ears on this planet. Lou Ellen and Nico just shared exasperated looks. And then the song was over, and they had to pick a new song. Gods have mercy. Tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

I know. I'm sorry. It's been 12 chapters and nothing has happened yet. I had a lot of plans for this episode but it was 2:00 AM when I wrote this soooo. Hopefully next episode will actually get to some plot. Hope you liked it! For every review I get one slice of cake, so please do that, I'm starving! Bye, thanks!


	16. Chapter 13 Nico's POV

You know what? Tuesdays are weekends too, I'm posting today.

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They reached Delphi, and it was not at all what they were expecting.

They got out of the car, and Nico turned to Jules-Albert to grant him permission to leave, when he saw it.

Or what used to be it.

"Um... Jules-Albert, you may leave," he stuttered.

As the sports car sank back into the earth, they turned to see ruins behind tall metal gates. It must have been a temple of some sort.

"Looks like we're in the right place," Cecil muttered, "are we going in?"

"I... I guess so. We did come here to get into Delphi after all. Will?" Nico looked over at Will. He was just staring at the gate, completely silent.

"Will?" Nico tried again.

"Um," Will blinked at the sound of his voice, "yeah. Yeah, we should. How?"

Cecil then picked up a pebble and threw it at the gate. Nothing happened. No alarms, spikes, guards, nothing.

"So... Can we just go in?" Lou Ellen asked cautiously.

"That seems too easy," Nico shook his head.

"And that's exactly why it's hard!" said the voice of a little girl.

Wait what?

They jumped and turned around to see a little girl, maybe 5, sitting on a rock just below a tree. She was just staring at them. She was strikingly beautiful for such a young girl. Her smooth skin must have once been a chocolatey brown tone, but it seemed washed out, drained, as if she had never even seen the sun before today. Her long, dark hair tumbled down her back in ringlets. Her black eyes shone with intelligence and amusement, she seemed to analyze your every movement- and find it funny. But...there was something else... Something broken. Nico wondered to himself what could happen to such an innocent little girl to give her such a look. What sort of horrors could exist on this world that wouldn't even spare a child? Nico only ever saw that look in one other person, in the man in the mirror. Could this little child have gone through the tortures that he had? The endless physical and mental pain he constantly was forced to endure? He-

"I like her already," Lou Ellen stated, completely interrupting his thoughts. He looked at the other 3 and they seemed just about as dazed as he felt. Her eyes... It was like he was being hypnotized or something. He definitely didn't trust that... Whatever it was.

"Monster?" Will asked uncertainly.

"No..." Lou Ellen answered, "but I can definitely feel a strong aura."

"Demigod?" Cecil asked.

"Would be a very powerful one," Lou Ellen answered.

"You guys are funny," she giggled.

"What do we do now?" Cecil asked.

"Let's just go," Nico said, wanting to get as far away from those eyes as possible.

"What?! We can't leave her alone!" Will nearly screeched.

"Um, yes we can," Nico said, eyes bulging.

"She's a kid!" Will exclaimed.

"A random kid we found on a rock in front of a dangerous place probably filled with creatures who'd want to kill us. Not to mention her incredibly strong aura and creepy eyes," Nico tried to reason with him. He couldn't be serious.

"She's like, what, 5?!"

"She's probably not even human!"

"But what if she is?"

"Then where are her parents?!"

"Not here," she stated simply, now attempting to climb the tree under which she sat.

"Get down from there!" Will scolded gently, walking over to get her.

"Will, be careful..." Nico warned.

Will walked over to the little girl and picked her up from where she was now dangling off of the lowest branch. Nico immediately tensed up.

The little girl just giggled in his arms, causing Will to smile warmly at her. He was always so good with kids, probably because of his work in the infirmary. He was just so caring and warm it was hard for kids to not just like him immediately, and Will felt the same way towards kids. Nico wondered if he would want to be a father one day. _He would be happy, living with his wife and 2.5 kids behind a picket white fence_ , Nico smiled sadly to himself.

Will walked over with the girl now on his shoulders.

"Damn it, Will," Nico sighed.

"Will... Sorry, but are you really sure you should take her where we're going? O-Of course I'm not telling you what you should do, I'm just saying, it will be dangerous," Lou Ellen said.

"Oh..." Will's face immediately dropped.

"Do you have anywhere to go?" Lou Ellen asked her.

She just giggled.

"Will... Just leave her here. If she was here when we found her that must mean she came from somewhere nearby, and so whoever was there will come for looking for her. We can't risk anything, remember, this is Delphi. Python is here. He was powerful enough to kidnap a god, a weakened one, perhaps, but still a god. We came here for a reason," Nico reasoned.

"You're right," Will sighed. He set the little girl back on the ground, "We have to go, okay? Will you be okay here?"

She just smiled.

"Well, bye then," he ruffled her hair.

She giggled.

"Back to the problem at hand," Nico said, trying to regain their lost attention.

"What do we do?" Cecil asked.

"Should we just go in?" Will suggested.

"Well... She did say 'and that's exactly why it's hard.' Maybe he's expecting us to overthink things," Lou Ellen said.

"She certainly seems to know some things," Nico commented.

She just giggled.

Nico really didn't trust that girl.

"Just drop it," Will glared.

"Mmmmm how about no. Sorry that I care about your lives."

"GuYs!" Lou exclaimed, "Shut up."

"Right," Nico turned back to the gate.

"I say we go in," Will decided.

"Well we have to get in somehow," Cecil agreed.

"I guess..." Lou glanced questioningly towards the gate.

"I don't know, guys. Why would he make it so easy? He wants us to get in," Nico said.

"Well there are many reasons behind its easiness. He could have not been expecting us, or maybe he forgot, or maybe he died, or maybe this us an intricate plan to get us to not trust this entrance and end up building our own portal to get in which he'll end up stealing from us to complete his master plan and-"

"Shut up, Cecil," Nico interrupted.

"Some people just can't appreciate a great mind," Cecil sighed.

"Let's... Let's go, then," Nico relented.

Cecil picked the lock and opened the gate cautiously... And nothing happened. No booby traps, no Pythons jumping out from hidden places, nothing. They all walked through and closed the entrance behind them, Will waving goodbye to the little girl. She just giggled.

Her giggles were driving him crazy.

"Ready to find your dad?" Cecil asked.

"I... Yeah... Yeah I am," Will stuttered. His expression a mix of fear, confidence, and worry. Not a good mix.

"It'll be fine," Nico reassured him.

Will smiled down at him, "I know. Let's go."

They trudged off, stepping over rubble, and finally leaving that little girl with her creepy eyes and haunting giggles behind.

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Damn, gotta love that good ol' procrastination. I finally wrote another chapter, and not a good one at that. Probably my worst ending to a chapter yet. Hope you guys liked the chapter despite me obviously not editing anything, follow to keep up with my inconsistent updating schedules! I usually post on weekends, although I acknowledge that this is not a weekend. Please review, your reviews make my day, constructive criticism is always welcome, okay, bye!


	17. Chapter 14 Will's POV

Hello again, random people of the Internet! I really don't know what's going on with this story which is why it is taking so long. I keep just opening it and staring at it, just trying to make up some sort of plot fit the chapter, also why nothing has happened yet. Today I have decided to actually use some plot in le story. We might actually get past the introduction in this chapter. Who knows? I just start writing and see what happens usually so

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Will felt an odd sensation in his gut as he approached the wall. It was a mixture of adrenaline, fear, determination, and some sort of calm. This was it. He was walking to his death and he was taking his friends with him.

Cecil was able to somehow get them a map of the place and it seemed that there was a wall around the entire city, this one with a guarded gate. The easiest way in was shadow travel, but there was no way Will would allow Nico to do that— he would need all his strength anyways. Besides, there were probably misters in there, they would easily be able to detect the magic of a demigod of the Big Three. The best way in was to scale the wall, and the perfect place was closer to the back of the city. It was weakly guarded, probably because it was surrounded by a dense forest, but Nico seemed pretty confident he would be able to navigate through it. On the other side of the wall was a stadium of some sort, but it wasn't in use. How did Cecil get most of this information? Will preferred not to ask. He often wondered if Hermes kids could also charmspeak, but he knew that they probably didn't get their resources through a little chit chat over a cup of tea.

They were currently in the forest, following Nico and Lou. Lou was carrying a flaming torch, reminding Will of her mother, and Nico was leading the way. He would occasionally say something, to what? He didn't know. Will just assumed it was a ghost or something. There was a lot of... energy, surrounding the area.

Nico remained quiet other than that, so Will And Cecil we're just making small talk in the back of which Lou Ellen would occasionally join. Will didn't do to well in darkness or in silence, the only things he inherited from his father other than his healing abilities.

All off a sudden, Nico stopped. "We're here."

They looked up and were greeted with a stone wall, about 20 feet tall or so.

"I have rope," Lou Ellen said, pulling it out of her back.

"Always prepared," Cecil commented.

"And that tree is is kind of near the wall... we could just climb it and swing on and boom... I mean it's just a suggestion. Probably stupid," Lou Ellen offered.

"Good idea, Lou, but not all of us are very agile," Will then gestured towards himself. A lot of people tend to believe he's fit since he's kinda muscular, but he's more tall and lanky than anything. He never found much of a need to actually try and be fit. He was always a healer, not a fighter.

"And we have no idea how thick the wall is. There may not be a footing," Nico stated.

"Always such a downer," Cecil shook his head, acting disappointed.

"I say we just-" Nico was then interrupted by a familiar, childish giggle.

"Oh no..." Nico groaned.

Will quickly turned around in alarm to see the little girl from before sitting on a rock, just watching them. Her giggles just sounded so fake, but so convincing as well. It just made Will want to give her a hug.

"Hey kid, what are you doing here?" Will asked, a small smile playing on his lips.

She just giggled.

"Did she follow us?" Cecil asked.

"We would have noticed, right?" Lou asked.

"As I said before, I don't trust it," Nico said.

"Oh come on, Nico. She's a kid!" Will said in response. Nico was being reasonable, they couldn't just trust some random little person with hypnotic eyes, but Will just put all reason aside. He had to help this little girl. There was something about her, and Will was healer, it was his duty to help her with whatever it was she needed. No 5 year old looks like that, or laughs like that, but she most certainly wasn't a monster.

"I'm not arguing with you on this, Will. I don't know what's wrong with you but you're clearly out of your mind. Let's just get over this wall, find your dad, and get out of here," Nico said.

"Right... right. That's reasonable," Will nodded. He forced himself to turn away from the mysterious little girl.

She just giggled.

"Good," Nico said, "Anyways, as I was saying. I've been thinking, these guys probably will detect me anyways, I'm a child of Hades, I smell strongly of death. I should just shadow travel us in to spare us time."

Will was about to retort when Lou suddenly asked, "Where's Cecil?"

"Up here!" Cecil's voice said from somewhere above them. Will looked yo to see his friend sitting on top of the wall.

"What in Hades?!" Nico exclaimed.

"Language!" Will chastised.

Nico gave him an exasperated look.

"What?" Will defended, "Besides, isn't that your father's name and like you probably shouldn't use it as a cuss."

"That's the reason why I'm the only one who can get away with it without getting smite," Nico said.

"Cecil," Lou interrupted, "how?"

"Look at your feet!" Cecil instructed.

They looked down. They each had on a pair of Converse that Will knew he was not wearing before. Will's were yellow, Nico's were black, and Lou's were green, what a surprise. Will could faintly make out Cecil's blue ones, but his were different. His had wings?!

"Hermes?!" Will asked.

"How did I not notice earlier?!" Nico exclaimed.

"Just say the word and they'll form wings. I don't wanna say it and deactivate mine though," Cecil instructed.

"I remember Percy talking about this once," Nico recalled, "Luke gave him shoes like these, but they were a trick. I don't know about these, but the word is... Maia." Black wings sprout out of the sides of the shoes and Nico lifted into the air. He nearly fell over, but Will reached forward and helped steady him. Nico turned red and muttered a quick "thanks." He was so adorable.

Will then repeated the word, "Maia," and held onto Nico when the shoes first rose from the ground. The feeling resembled roller skating for the first time, but upwards instead of forwards, if that made any sense.

"Just lean in the direction you wanna go," Cecil said.

With a lot of difficulty and a few curse words from Nico, they finally managed to get on top of the wall. Once they landed, Nico immediately began taking in their surroundings.

"Okay, there's nothing much right here but up ahead there are a bunch of huts and even some taller building like structures. Probably some sort of town? Right here where we are are more trees, and some artificially made structures like caves and lakes," Nico noted.

"How do you know they're artificial?" Will asked.

"Random structures of rock don't just sprout up from the ground with holes in them that weren't caused by erosion or something," he explained.

"I suppose that means this is where the monsters stay, no human would just make those, would they?" Lou asked.

"I think you're right, but they could have been made a long time ago Nico agreed.

"So does that mean the guys and stuff are for humans? Because I'm pretty sure there should be humans somewhere here," Cecil said.

"Unless they were eaten," Nico stated.

Will gulped.

"Or just chased away," Nico tried with an apologetic smile.

"Yeah... let's go with that..." Will nodded.

"So should we try the village?" Cecil asked.

Nico took a second to think. "Any objections?"

No one else said anything.

"I suppose we should, then," Nico decided.

They ran on top of the wall, and Will couldn't help but think about how anime this must've looked. Especially with their large shadows casting down on the ground. Will recalled introducing Nico to mabga that day in the infirmary. He just casually showed some to Nico but when he became obsessed with it, Will slowly became invested in it too, but now he could see what his Death Boy was doing to him. Turning him into a nerd, just like him. How cute.

They stopped once they were right across from the huts. They flew down, careful to duck behind the trees.

"Maia," everyone whispered. The wings then shrink back into the shoes.

"Should we go in?" Will asked.

"Um... that may not be such a good idea," Lou Ellen said.

"Why not?" Cecil asked.

"Because," Nico answered, "those aren't humans."

With a second glance they recognized those "teenagers" to actually be empousa and dracanae. And there were many more monsters roaming around further in.

"Well what now?" Lou Ellen asked.

"Now," hissed a feminine voice behind them, "you come with us."

Will jumped and pulled an arrow out of his quiver and notched it onto his bow, aiming it at whatever it was that had just spoken. They must have been guards, considering the armor they wore. There were dracanae, empousa, cyclops, and even harpies.

The dracanae That spoke before, presumably the leader of the group, said, "Son of Hades." She looked at Nico distastefully. "Hopefully Python tosses you into the crowd. I know I certainly would love to kill you."

"Then you'd better get in line," Nico rolled his eyes.

The snake lady clearly didn't understand his sarcasm, but just turned to Will instead. "So you must be the son of Apollo. All of you sun-spawn look the same. Python will be very pleased when he sees I have brought you. He says he will take pleasure in making you watch what he does to your daddy. You'll get a front row seat." With that, all of the monsters began laughing.

Will wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of him, but he was never that great at hiding his emotions. How dare she speak about his father, the _god_ Apollo.

"Oh look. Sunshine Boy's getting mad," the dracanae teased in a mocking tone.

Will was really struggling to hold back his temper, but ye bit his tongue, fully aware that he was in a city of monsters and saying anything that was on his mind would surely get them killed. He saw Nico also attempting to control his anger, but Nico's grip on gis sword was so tight his knuckles were turning white. Will reached over and placed his hand on Nico's shoulder. Nico tensed at his touch at first, but he relaxed a luttle after a moment. As relaxed as you could be surrounded by a bunch of ugly monsters who want to kill you.

"What now?" Lou muttered.

"We have to go with them. We're outnumbered and the shoes are one time use only," Nico sighed.

Will couldn't believe he was gonna give that thing the satisfaction of delivering them to Python.

"Oh, so you do have a brain. Not a very big one, but at least bigger than the bloke with the elf ears who hasn't done a single thing yet," she remarked.

"Hey!" Cecil said indignantly.

"Anyways, fun's over, Let's get a move on people!" She ordered. The rest of the guards followed her, forming a bubble around them. The four demigods looked at each other with looks of fear and anxiety, but Nico was mostly just annoyed. Will could tell he was beating himself up over the turn of events, but it was all of their faults. As quest leader, Will should have scouted the area first before going in.

 _Too late to cry over spilled nectar_ , he chided himself.

He trudged along, until they reached the gates of what was presumably the arena they saw in the map. The lead dracanae pushes the gates open and revealed an empty stadium. Well, nearly empty. In the middle stood Python himself. He turned to the gates where the 4 demigods stood.

He looked directly at Will, "At last."

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I'm currently re-reading Harry Potter for the 7th time, hence the "bloke" and "dolt," so don't mind that. Yes, I have taken to writing on Tuesday mornings at 2:00 AM so that's probably gonna be when I'll post for now. Who needs sleep anyways? And does anyone the singular form of dracanae?! Anyone?!


	18. Chapter 15 Cecil&Nico's POV

I'm posting again today because why not. Fatigue is great inspiration. Warning: profanity.

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In the center of the stadium stood Python himself. He... he was not what Cecil was expecting. He had expected, I don't know, a real python? Instead, there stood a tall, slender man with papery skin. He was adorned in a snakeskin robe, and had the eyes to match. They were fully yellow with vertical slits for pupils. When he smiled, you could see his fangs and a forked tongue.

He ignored the rest of them and looked directly at Will as a cynical smile split across his features. "At last," he hissed.

The four demigods looked at each other, Will with a hard look that was a mix of fear and determination, Nico with his regular poker face, and Lou looking like she was going to puke. He could only imagine what he looked like, he felt worse than Lou looked.

A guard from behind them prodded them in backs with his spear, urging them forward. They walked down into the arena and stood before Python. The guards all immediately knelt before him, but the demigods remained standing.

Python looked at them with an amused look, "Well, looks like you got my message."

"What?" Will asked.

"The message from my oracle," he explained. Then it clicked.

"You sent the prophecy?!" Cecil exclaimed.

"Explains why it was so bad," Nico snorted.

Python whipped his head around to face Nico. He looked him up and down. "You're the famous son of Hades? You don't look like much. Well, I suggest you hold your tongue if you'd rather it not get chopped off."

Nico glared at him but kept quiet.

"Your oracle? So that's why Rachel hasn't been able to use her gift of prophecy, because you took the oracle?" Lou asked.

"Took?" Python sneered, "The Oracle was mine, dear. The Oracle is mine. Before Apollo was born, she was mine. I just reclaimed what he took from me. Now, I'm not going to stand around and be disrespected by some demigod scum. I rule this place, now be good and kneel like everybody else."

They didn't kneel. Cecil could see Lou's confidence wavering, she looked like she was gonna have a panic attack, so he grabbed her hand. She looked down at his hand, then at him, and rolled her eyes, but she kept her hand there.

(A/n: switch of POV because I realized this scene would work better in Nico's and I'm not rewriting the first part.)

Nico's POV

When they stayed put, Python went up to Will and ordered again, "Kneel before me."

"And why should I?" Will spat.

Within a flash, Python kicked out and swiped at Will's legs, causing him to fall. As he fell he brought his foot up to meet his face.

"BASTARD!" Nico yelled. He lunged forwards but was wrestled back by 2 guards. Lou Ellen and Cecil were too being restrained by a guard each.

Python didn't seem to notice.

He bent down to face Will, who was sitting on his knees with a split lip and a little blood coming from the corner of his mouth.

The sight made Nico's vision go red. He began to thrash around and struggle against the guards to a point where 2 more had to rush over and help.

"There. That wasn't so bad now, was it?" Python sneered.

Will just looked him dead in the eye and proceeded to spit in his face.

Python stumbled back, vigorously wiping his face. He looked at Will with rage.

He nodded at a guard who promptly came over and lifted Will by the arm. He held both of his arms behind his back and waited for Python. Python then proceeded to kick Will in the gut with such force that he doubled over, but was straightened out by the guard.

Nico furiously yelled, "WHAT THE HELL?! ARE YOU SO MUCH OF A COWARD THAT YOU NEED A GUARD TO RESTRAIN HIM?! FIGHT ME, BASTARD!" But his attempts were futile.

Python smiled and punched Will in the same spot.

 _Fuck this,_ Nico thought.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on summoning a skeleton, but nothing happened.

"You can't do that," the little girl giggled next to him.

"WhAt ThE fUcK aRe YoU dOiNg HeRe?! And what do you mean, 'I can't'?!" Nico yelped.

"Magic doesn't work here," she said matter-of-fact-ly.

 _Damn it_ , Nico thought to himself.

Python increased the intensity of his hits until Will's legs finally gave out. He coughed up a little blood.

And then the temperature dropped.

Everyone ceased what they were doing, except for Python. He didn't notice. He was having too much fun.

"Oh, Apollo. If only you could see what I'm doing to your son right now. Perhaps we should take you to the dungeons and have a little show for your daddy, eh?"

He pulled out a knife and pressed it against Will's cheek. "We'll have so much fun." He drew blood. Nico had a faint memory of Reyna and Bryce Lawrence, but he could care less. Python was hurting Will, his Will.

Nico didn't understand why Python suddenly snapped his head up and looked at him. He wasn't even thinking when he thrust his hand out. He could hear souls screaming and crying, but Bryce Lawrence's was the loudest. He could feel himself drawing something from Python's body, and gods damnit, it felt good. He was about to do it, the deed would be done, he would protect Will.

He felt a warm hand touch his cheek. He snapped his head in the direction from where the hand came from, and there he saw Will. The gash in his cheek looked pretty deep. He was saying something to Nico, but he couldn't really hear him. He couldn't hear anything. _I'll listen to him later._ He turned back to Python, who looked close to fading, when his head was turned back to Will. He was going to turn away again when he felt something warm crash against his lips. It was... was Will... Will was kissing him. He- He was kissing him.

Nico dropped his hand and melted into the kiss. It wasn't rough or messy, it was soft in a passionate way, if that made any sense. Who cares? It didn't need to make sense. All that mattered were Will's soft lips upon his.

He could feel himself getting warmer. Wait. Why was it so cold before?

Oh.

He broke off from the kiss.

He looked around.

Python was unconscious.

The guards were all on the ground with blue lips, they were shivering.

All plant life within 50 miles was dead.

Lou and Cecil were holding each other, terrified. The little girl was just sitting on the ground and weaving flower crowns out of the dead weeds, completely unfazed.

And Will... He couldn't read Will, but he didn't need to. He would obviously be repulsed.

Nico finally realized what he did. He nearly obliterated Python, the same way he did with Bryce. He was a monster, and Will saw that. He finally saw what Nico truly was.

He was then greeted with darkness.


	19. Chapter 16 Cecil's POV

Warning: profanity.

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The four demigods, including an unconscious Nico, along with their new 5 year old companion were all sitting in a small tent. Nico was laying on a makeshift bed and Will was sitting in a chair beside him, constantly checking to make sure he didn't fade.

Last night was... it was something.

They were given a tent with food rations and water, even a spare change of clothes fit everyone. Cecil felt refreshed after wiping himself with some baby wipes and changing into a pale blue tee shirt and shorts, although his curly brown hair was as messy as ever. Lou Ellen, on the other hand, had the sense to pack a hairbrush and was able to brush her short black and green hair. She grinned cockily at Cecil as she waved her brush at him before putting it back into her bag. She looked amazing in her black beanie and black leather jacket. She wore it, despite it being summer. Although, she did wear a tank top under it, along with ripped jeans- all black. It was summer. How?! To be fair, Nico was wearing a thick aviator jacket with his black skull tee and black ripped jeans, since he was too... unconscious, to change by himself. He was a sharp contrast from Will's bright yellow collared shirt and white jeans. Now he looked ready for summer, then again, he always did. Cecil often wondered if it was the protective barrier around the camp that kept the snow out, or the heat radiating off of Will and his bright daily attire. Nico was, however, a perfect match for the little girl who refused to change from her dress to a different one Lou borrowed.

They were currently all eating plain Pita bread, starving since they hadn't eaten since the previous morning. Lou and Cecil sat together, but Will has been tending to Nico ever since the incident.

Right, that.

Cecil had no idea what had happened. His best friend was getting beaten up, and Cecil was just trying to get to him, when the temperature suddenly dropped. The guards all immediately let go and began shivering, before dropping to the ground themselves, lips blue. Lou and Cecil moved closer to each other in an attempt to warm each other up. They looked to Will and saw Python hadn't noticed. They were going to run and help Will now that Python was outnumbered, but Python's head suddenly shot up and he dropped Will. Cecil followed his gaze and saw none other than Nico di Angelo himself, standing there with his hand outstretched, his expression completely neutral. Python let loose a blood curdling scream, causing Cecil to grip Lou tighter. Will got up and ran over to them.

"Will, are you alright?!" Lou yelled, grabbing his arm, noticing how he found it difficult to stand.

"Uh yeah, just peachy, what's Nico doing?!" Will was quite clearly alarmed.

"Well don't ask us!" Cecil said, "he's your patient!"

Will glared at him before turning back towards Python.

"Oh shit," he heard Will cuss. Will was very against cursing, so whatever was going on must have been bad. Cecil turned and saw Python literally beginning to fade.

"What in Hades is di Angelo doing?!" Cecil yelped.

Will immediately began running toward Nico.

"Be careful," Lou warned.

"They act like they're married. He'll be fine," a familiar voice giggled.

"What?! What are you doing here?!" Lou Ellen exclaimed.

"I've been here," she giggled.

She sat down in front of them and began plucking up dead weeds. Cecil looked up and saw that it wasn't only the weeds that were dying, all plant life around them was. It was like a disease that was spreading, the dried up browns and grays spread over the area like a wave.

 _How could one kid do that?!_ Cecil thought in awe.

"Oh, what is he doing?!" Lou said anxiously.

Will was close to Nico, touching his face. He was saying some things to him that he couldn't hear.

"Should we help?" Cecil asked.

"I don't know!" Lou said, exasperated. "Why would you come to me of all people to make a decision?!"

Then, Will grabbed Nico's face and kissed him.

Everything immediately stopped, there was just white noise.

Python was gaining back form and the darkness stopped spreading to other plant life. It was beginning to become warmer. Nico kissed back, dropping his hand, allowing Python to collapse onto the floor.

"Damn," was all Cecil could say.

Lou Ellen was fangirling over the two of them, as if one of them didn't just nearly fade someone out of existence.

Nico pulled away from the kiss before looking around, he seemed horrified. He looked at everything, including them, before looking at Will. Then, he passed out, and Will caught him.

Lou and Cecil ran up to him, he looked pretty shaken.

Cecil looked at Python's limp body, "This is our chance. He's unconscious. Let's get your dad and run."

"We don't know where he is," Will said.

"Then let's kill Python, find out where he is, and then get your dad and run."

Cecil heard scuffling and shouting.

"What was that?!"

"My Lord, are you in there? What happened?!"

"My garden! It's all gone!"

"Schist," Cecil cussed.

"We can't do anything to him now. Let's go," Lou Ellen said, pointing to a door on the opposite end of the stadium.

"Good idea, so much for indecision," Cecil teased. Lou Ellen turned red and was about to retort, but seemed to decide against it. That's strange, she would never avoid insulting him.

"Okay, Let's go." Will picked up Nico bridal style, his eyebrows knit together in worry.

They all ran out, Lou holding the little girl's hand, before the other monsters finally decided to enter, and they continued running once they got out. They kept running until Lou abruptly stopped. Cecil almost slammed into her. He looked to see what made her stop and saw a few tents set up in a clearing in the woods.

"More monsters?" Will asked.

Lou shook her head, "I don't sense any magical energy."

He then heard the sound of a knife unsheathing. He whipped around and was faced with a woman with wavy brown hair, who looked about in her forties.

"Monster?" Cecil whispered.

Lou Ellen shook her head.

"Who are you?" The woman asked. She had an accent, she must've been from around here.

Lou Ellen snapped her fingers, "We're Lou Ellen, Cecil, Will, Nico, and... the little one, remember?"

The little one laughed at her new name.

The lady blinked a few times before saying slowly," Yes... yes, I remember. What are you kids doing outside of the camp in daytime? You could have been seen!"

"Um..." Lou began panicking. She didn't have an excuse.

Ah, lying. Cecil's specialty. "Of course, sorry ma'am. Besides, why do we have to stay inside there anyways?"

"How could you forget? We ran away, if we're seen, we'll be taken back into slavery."

"Slavery?!" Will exclaimed.

"Are you children feeling alright? Don't you remember? This terrorist group just stormed in here one day, claiming the town for their own. They chased everyone away, but those who stood and rebelled were captured. We were forced to work for them, but we escaped," she exclaimed.

"Right, and what work were we doing, again?" Cecil asked.

She looked at them strangely. "Are you sure you kids are feeling alright? You two don't look well," she addressed Will and Nico.

"We were almost caught, they got hurt on our escape," Cecil explained.

"How many times must we tell you kids not to go wandering around?! Where are your parents?" She asked.

"Oh, well they're still captured. We were unable to escape with them," he lied.

She nodded in understanding, "Well, come in, then. I'll prepare some food for you all and tend to you and your unconscious friend myself."

"Thank you, ma'am," Cecil said, absolutely relieved. "Sorry, what's your name again?"

"Xanthi," she smiled.

And that's how they got to where they were. Xanthi came back and tended to Will's wounds, though Will eventually took over. She treated them to some pita and water, which they gladly accepted. When she left again, they began discussing.

"We have to help them," Lou resolved.

"We'll help them by defeating Python," Will said.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Cecil asked.

"Python's definitely not going to be as cocky this time, he might be too scared and leave us be," Will said.

"Or he'll be more careful and be ready next time," Lou countered.

"Trying to take Nico's place I see," Cecil commented.

Both Lou and Will glared at him.

"Too soon?" He asked.

Lou Ellen rolled her eyes and just ignored him. "When do you think Nico will wake up?"

"I don't know," Will admitted, "Reyna said he slept for a week after he did it the last time."

"He's done this before?!" Cecil yelped.

Will winced, "I don't really know. Reyna kinda beat around the bush, but now it makes sense that this was what happened."

He's done it before?! He's made this same extremely terrifying mistake twice?! Ghost Dude was really growing on him, but now... How could someone just do that by accident?! How can you obliterate a soul by accident?! Only if you're dangerous. If he lacks that much self control... Cecil wanted to trust him, but to do something that big on accident was worrisome, to say the least. And what worried him even more was Will. He had been shipping Solangelo since he spied on Will on the first day in the infirmary while he was getting treated, but now he was not too sure. Will put himself in harm's way just to kiss him. Nico was dangerous. Cecil liked him, but he was dangerous.

"Now what do we do?" Lou asked.

"Well we have to wait for Nico to wake up," Will said.

Lou and Cecil looked at each other.

"And... uh... didn't that take a week?" Cecil asked.

"You want us to leave him?!" Will exclaimed.

"No!" Lou interrupted, "No one's saying that. What he meant was is there any way to wake him up?"

Will shook his head, "I don't know. We've only known each other for, how long has it been? 4 or 5 days. I've never had a Child of Hades as a patient before, and none of the textbooks I've read say how to treat one."

"No textbooks said how to shrink a massive head that grew twice as large as the original, but you still did it for me," Cecil smiled at the memory.

"I warned you about pranking the Hecate Cabin," Lou shook her head.

"It was worth it," Cecil nodded.

"Anyways, I think Cecil's point is you can think of something that would at least help," Lou said.

"I... I guess..." Will thought for a second. He put his hand on Nico's forehead, then shook his head, "There's too much darkness."

"And What doesn't darkness like?" The little girl said from where she was drawing on a piece of paper Lou gave her.

"What...? Wait... Oh! Light! Of course! How did I not think of that earlier?!" Will exclaimed.

She giggled.

"You're a smart one, aren't you?" Cecil high fived her.

"Okay, so all we need to do is get some light into his system," Will said.

"Lucky for us, we have a Child Of Apollo here," Cecil clapped his back.

"Uh, if you guys forgot, I can't control light. I only heal. I don't think any children of Apollo control light," Will said.

"Well... there's gotta be something," Lou thought.

"The only thing that I could do is sing a hymn to my dad, but you know..." Will sighed.

"Why don't we just shine a bunch of lamps on him?" Cecil suggested.

"All that'll do is blind him," Will shook his head.

"Well do we have a better alternative?" Cecil asked.

Silence.

"That's what I thought," Cecil said.

He left the tent and went looking around for tents that had lights in them. He would then sneak in and _borrow_ whatever lamps, lights, etc. he could find.

"You asked to borrow these, right?" Will asked.

"Yup," Cecil said with his trademark mischievous smile.

Will simply sighed.

They turned on all the lamps and... nothing. They waited 5 minutes. Nothing.

"Worth a shot," Cecil shrugged.

Will just sat down, "There's nothing we can do but wait."

"Come on Cecil, let's go scout the area and think up a plan or something..." Lou said, grabbing the little girl's hand and leading her out.

"Okay," Cecil sighed and got up. He looked back at Will who was sitting beside Nico, holding his hand.

 _I just hope he knows what he's doing,_ Cecil thought.

He turned around and left the tent, following Lou Ellen.

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Sorry this chapter ended so abruptly. I decided that, again, it would have to be in someone else's Point of View. Thanks again for reading, don't forget to leave a review, constructive criticism is always welcome, they make my day. K, bye


	20. Chapter 17 Will's POV

Due to the translator's mistake, in the Polish version of _The Lost Hero_ , Lou Ellen was introduced as a boy. - fun fact I stumbled across whilst researching these characters. On an unrelated note, what does whilst mean? I know it means "while" but why not just say that? What's the point of having a more complicated word?! Is it meant to be like "whom"? But that doesn't make sense! I use it all the time but now I just think I was grammatically incorrect.

The song used is "You Are My Sunshine." If you're a Solangelo fanfiction reader and you haven't heard this song yet, I am highly disappointed. Go listen to it right now! It is so sweet, especially when you think of it in the context of Nico and Will.

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Will grabbed Nico's hand, expression full of worry. Nico looked so peaceful when he was asleep. His constant guarded look finally let down. He was so tense all the time, Will just wanted to break down those walls, but he knew 4 days of knowing him wouldn't be enough to get him to trust him. When they kissed, Will was surprised, to say the least, when Nico kissed back. After everything he had gone through, although Will didn't really know much about that, he was still able to like Will. He, the amazing Nico di Angelo, apparently the Ghost King, liked him back. It probably was just a spur of the moment thing, but it was amazing nonetheless. And... if Nico didn't reciprocate the feelings... all Will wanted was for him to be happy. If he was happier with a real hero, then so be it.

Will brushed the hair out of Nico's eyes, it was getting pretty long, and kissed him on the forehead. All Nico needed right now was light, and Will couldn't even give him that.

Nico still looked incredibly pale, if Will hadn't been checking his pulse every 5 minutes he would have thought he was dead. His fingertips would occasionally become transparent, those times Will's heart nearly stopped, but he regained physicality after a few moments. It broke Will's heart to see his Death Boy look so... dead.

Will kept his hand where it was, but leaned back in his chair. He looked at Nico lovingly and began humming. He squinted and noticed that Nico's fingers, which had just gone transparent again, immediately regained form. Will stopped humming out of shock, but then he began singing the song he was humming.

"You are my sunshine,

My only sunshine.

You make me happy

When skies are gray.

You'll never know dear,

How much I'd miss you.

So please don't take

My sunshine away."

He nearly cried as he saw Nico regain color. At first Will feared he might fade out of existence, with what was happening to his fingers, but now he was gaining more hope. He grabbed his other hand and continued singing.

"The other night, dear,

As I lay sleeping,

I dreamed I held you in my arms.

When I awoke, dear,

I was mistaken,

And I hung my head and cried.

You are my sunshine,

My only sunshine.

You make me happy

When sky's are gray.

You'll never know, dear,

How much I love you,

Please don't take my sunshine away.

Please don't take my sunshine away..."

"I'm not going anywhere," Nico croaked, although it was barely above a whisper.

"Nico!" Will cried.

He cupped Nico's face in his hand.

Oh gods, he was alive! Will tried to act confident around Lou Ellen and Cecil, but in reality he was terrified that Nico would fade away.

"So you don't hate me?" He said in a questioning voice.

Will nearly laughed, "No! No, of course not. I love you."

Nico shook his head, "No... no. I'm a monster. I nearly killed him. Worse. I nearly made him into a mindless ghost." He was tearing up now.

"No... no. Don't think like that. Nearly. You nearly did it, but you didn't," Will tried to console him.

Nico shook his head again and seemed to completely block Will out after that. Will tried speaking to him, but he gave up eventually.

He sighed. He knew this all was new to Nico, and they only really got to talk for the first time just 4 days ago. Before that, Will had just admired him from a distance.

After a few moments of Nico picking at the sheets and Will just staring at him, the others returned. Will let go of Nico's hand, surprised when he saw Nico look a little upset about it, but the expression was gone so quickly Will was sure he had imagined it.

Lou studied him for a second, but didn't say anything even though Will was sure she noticed his red eyes. Cecil, on the other hand, was completely oblivious.

"What's she doing here?" Nico asked, most likely referring to the little girl.

"Oh hey, you're up," Cecil said. He sounded strange.

The little girl giggled.

"Well, she kept following us, so we decided we might as well take her with us," Will answered.

Nico rolled his eyes, "You're going to get us killed some day."

"And you could've last night." Will was shocked to hear Cecil say that. He could see Lou was too.

Only Nico didn't look shocked, "Fair point."

"What?! No! Nico, what happened last night was not your fault!" Will exclaimed.

"Don't listen to Cecil, he doesn't understand," Lou glared at Cecil.

"Understand what?! Look, I like di Angelo as well," Will glared at him for that, "Not in that way," Cecil continued, giving Will a look, "but that doesn't mean I have to go ignoring the war elephant in the room."

Lou was about to say something, but Nico said first, "Never thought Cecil would be the only one with sense in the group."

"Hey," Cecil protested.

"W-What?!" Will exclaimed.

"Nico, stop that," Lou knelt by his bed. Nico looked shock at the gesture, "Don't beat yourself up over it."

"And why not?!" Nico was getting angry, "I nearly obliterated his soul, for Hades' sake! He has every right to hate me, so I don't need your pity."

"Hold on, I never said I hated you," Cecil said.

"Well you should," Nico said.

"I was just saying. I-" Nico interrupted, "Cecil it's fine. You don't have to apologize for being reasonable. You're wary of me, and that's the right thing to do. It's the sensible thing to do. I'm not even saying that in a self deprecating kind of way, I'm serious. Now it looks like you've all gotten a chance to freshen up, so I'll go do that."

Will began to protest as Nico sat up but he was still ignoring him. He grabbed some spare clothes, the wipes, a toothbrush even though there was no sink, and left the tent.

"Will, I-" Cecil began.

"No," Will cut him off, "I don't want to hear it."

He began preoccupying himself with making Nico's bed, not wanting to even look at Cecil. How dare he say such things to Nico? It wasn't like it was Nico's fault. He had lost control. He could hear Lou and Cecil arguing in the background of his thoughts.

"In my defense-"

"Save it!"

"Look, Lou Ellen, I-"

"You don't have a clue what it's like. He's hurting and you just go saying stuff like that."

"Be reasonable."

"Be kind!"

"I still like him, I'm not trying to insult him or something, I'm just trying to-"

"Trying to what?"

"Agh! He could be dangerous! We've only known him for 4 days, how could you let your guard down so fast?! How could you trust him just like that?!"

Will turned around so fast he could have gotten whiplash, "Because he is a hero. He risked his life carrying that statue back half way across the world just to help the people that never accepted him before. And, in the first war, he convinced his father to join his brothers. He convinced his father to set aside a thousands of years old rivalry, just to help the camp. He is a hero, Cecil. That is why I trust him." He was breathing heavily now.

Cecil just looked down at the floor.

Nico reentered the tent. He looked a lot more refreshed, but still pale and tired. He obviously noticed the atmosphere, but acted indifferent to it. Cecil looked like he felt awful, but he also seemed to stand by what he thought. He didn't hate Nico, but still... How could he not trust him?! After everything?!

"So kiddo," Nico sat down on the bed, "If you're staying with us, then at least tell us your name."

The little girl looked up at him.

"Do you have a name?" Lou asked.

She just looked at her.

"Then we'll have to give you one," Will smiled, "Anyone have a suggestion?"

"Bianca," Nico said immediately.

She giggled.

"She likes it," Cecil said.

Will gave Nico a small smile as he was looking at the little girl with the ghost of a smile on his face.

"It's perfect," Will said, looking at Nico.

Nico smiled sadly back at him.

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Thanks again for reading, don't forget to leave a review, they make my day, constructive criticism is always welcomed. And, please, what does whilst mean?!


	21. Chapter 18 Nico's POV

**Warning** : profanity and homophobic slurs. Lots of self loathing, self-deprecating thoughts, mentions of suicide, depression, etc. Homophobia towards self. **Trigger warning.**

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The shadow realm was not at all what most people would expect. Most people imagine some sort of magical realm where all ghosts are. A real place like the Underworld. Or maybe you can just jump into a shadow behind your grandmother's cabinet where she kept her porcelains and be transported to this realm of weird plasma-like stuff.

In reality, it's just... dark. The shadow realm is where all of the mindless ghosts, shadows of people, live. We all have shadows. Our darkness reflected onto the ground caused by our bodies blocking beams of light that have travelled billions and trillions of miles just to be stopped from reaching its final destination because of you. They're just distorted versions of ourselves that trail behind us wherever we go, but we don't care. We walk all over them. Shadows are forgotten, and this was where the forgotten things go. Probably why he came here every time. He was always drawn back here, one way or another. Came to this forgotten place that isn't even a place. It's just darkness. Any darkness you see is the shadow realm. Not an entrance to a place, as most movies interpret it, it simply is.

The first few time he came he thought the voices were the shadows, but now he knew that was stupid. Shadows don't whisper. Nothing exists here. Once you come here, you don't exist, unless you're him. The voices were his own. With nothing else there, his own mind was free to go wherever it pleased, and who was he to stop it? He was just a shadow. Here, his mind was separate, detached from his body. Well, when was it ever attached? Besides, he didn't even have a body here. Here he was only his mind and his soul. No matter or physical being existed here.

 _Worthless._

 _Bianca_

 _Selfish._

 _Percy._

 _Will._

 _Cutter._

 _Suicidal._

 _Gay._

 _Depressed._

 _Emo._

 _Mom._

 _Death._

 _Suicide._

 _Will._

 _Kill yourself._

 _Will._

 _Will._

 _Will._

There was no rhyme or reason to the words. Sometimes they were words, sometimes they were phrases, sometimes they were paragraphs. They were random, but had a recurring theme. The truth.

 _Reyna._

 _Unwanted._

 _Hazel._

 _Whip._

 _Pink._

 _Cupid._

 _Tartarus._

 _Monsters._

 _Misery._

 _Akhlys._

 _Perfect._

This would probably be where he would go when he died. In some ways it was worse than the Fields of Punishment. At least there, you could feel. You were someone. Here, you were just

 _Alone._

And sometimes, Nico thought that was best. He wasn't

 _Immature._

 _Homo._

 _Brat._

 _Faggot._

 _Annoying._

Here. He was free. He wasn't what he hated. He wasn't Nico di Angelo. He wasn't Nico di Angelo, and that was better than Elysium for him. This place was still worse than the Fields Of Punishment, but he would rather it be that way than anything else, so it was his Elysium, in a way.

Here, Nico di Angelo didn't exist. Bianca di Angelo didn't exist. Perseus Jackson didn't exist. William Solace didn't exist.

Here was just an infinite state of nothingness.

But still.

He would always eventually get drawn back out.

Amongst the whispers were slivers of hope. William Solace was something that pushed him here, but also drew him back out. Him and Hazel, Jason, and Reyna. Even Percy. As much as he hated it. As much as he struggled to stay, he would always be brought back. He wanted to stay. He really did. It was his only freedom. But... still. He could still hear murmurs of voices from the outside, time to time. In these voices he could hear hope. Maybe he could learn to completely change himself. He could learn to make himself worthy of all the love his friends gave him. Maybe he could even fix himself and try to go and get himself a girlfriend. There had to be a way to get over these feelings.

He would then begin to feel things, the things he heard would sound more clear, he would feel himself having a body again. Part of him would always want to claw his way back, back to the freedom of nothingness, but the rest of him would cling onto that childish hope. That maybe, just maybe, things could work out.

He felt a warm hand brush him. Where? He didn't know quite yet.

He felt warm lips. Mama? Bianca? No. They...they're gone. Then who?

He heard something. It was... nice. Soothing. Comforting, but not in the same way as the shadow realm. It was a... better kind of solace.

He slowly figured out it was a song. Only Bianca and his mother came to mind. They both would kiss him and hum to him, but the song was different.

Was he Nico di Angelo? Maybe he was someone else, and that was a dream. He would wake up to find two loving parents kissing him good night and singing him to sleep.

No... he... he was Nico di Angelo, unfortunately.

He could make out words. Sunshine... happy... dear... love... Who was this?

Only then did he realize it was Will. His Will was singing to him. He never did have an amazing singing voice, but he sounded so perfect right now. Like an angel. His sun angel. He listened to the song.

"You are my sunshine

My only sunshine

You make me happy

When sky's are gray

You'll never know, dear

How much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away

Please don't take my sunshine away..."

"I'm not going anywhere," he heard himself croak. He slowly blinked his eyes open to be greeted with an ecstatic and relieved Will.

"Nico!" Will cried.

He cupped Nico's face in his hand.

Nico fully returned to the real workd, regaining conciousness in his body. He felt his body reattach itself to his soul, which was as uncomfortable as it sounded.

Memories came flooding back. He remembered what had happened before he reentered the shadow realm. He was sure Will would hate him... but then why did he kiss him? And sing to him? And look so happy when he woke up?

"So, you don't hate me?" Nico cautiously asked.

Will nearly laughed, "No! No, of course not. I love you."

Nico shook his head, "No... no. I'm a monster. I nearly killed him. Worse. I nearly made him into a mindless ghost." He was tearing up now. No. Nico di Angelo does not cry. Pull yourself together.

"No... no. Don't think like that. Nearly. You nearly did it, but you didn't," Will tried to console him.

Nico shook his head again and completely blocked Will out after that. Will tried speaking to him, but he gave up eventually. Nico couldn't.

 _Will hates you._

 _You're a monster._

He wondered if he was still in the shadow realm.

To distract himself, he began picking at things, trying to look preoccupied. After a few moments the others returned. Will let go of Nico's hand, and Nico was honestly kind of upset about it. He hadn't even realized that they were holding hands, but that was because it just felt so... natural. And right.

Lou studied them for a second. Nico got a little nervous, so he looked away and noticed Giggles staring intently up at him. He quickly diverted his gaze to avoid eye contact.

"What's she doing here?" Nico asked.

"Oh hey, you're up," Cecil said. He sounded... apprehensive.

The little girl giggled.

"Well she kept following us, so we decided we might as well take her with us," Will answered.

Nico rolled his eyes, "You're going to get us killed some day."

"And you could've last night," Cecil said.

"Fair point," Nico responded. He was right. He was a monster.

"What?! No! Nico what happened last night was not your fault!" Will exclaimed.

"Don't listen to Cecil, he doesn't understand," Lou glared at him.

"Understand what?! Look, I like di Angelo as well. Not in that way," Cecil continued, giving Will a look, What was that about? "but that doesn't mean I have to go beating around the bush."

Lou was about to say something, but Nico said first, "Never thought Cecil would be the only one with sense in the group."

"Hey," Cecil protested.

"W-What?!" Will exclaimed.

"Nico stop that," Lou knelt by his bed. Nico was shocked she would want to approach him, "Don't beat yourself up over it."

"And why not?!" Nico said harshly, "I nearly obliterated his soul, for Hades' sake! He has every right to hate me, so I don't need your pity."

"Hold on, I never said I hated you," Cecil said.

"Well you should," Nico said.

"I was just saying. I-" Nico interrupted, "Cecil, it's fine. You don't have to apologize for being reasonable. You're wary of me, and that's the right thing to do. It's the sensible thing to do. I'm not even saying that in a self deprecating kind of way, I'm serious. Now it looks like you've all gotten a chance to freshen up, I'll go do that."

Will began to protest as Nico sat up but he was still ignoring him. He grabbed spare clothes, baby wipes, a toothbrush even though there was probably no sink, and left the tent.

From outside the tent, Nico could hear everything. Once he got outside, he assumed that there was no lavatory wherever they were, so he ducked behind a tree and changed. He prayed to the gods no one caught him.

He looked around. They were in a campground. Everyone there looked human enough.

Even after he finished, he stayed outside, wanting to hear what his quest mates had to say.

"Will, I-" Cecil began.

"No," Will but him off, "I don't want to hear it."

"In my defense-"

"Save it!"

"Look, Lou Ellen, I-"

"You don't have a clue what it's like. He's hurting and you just go saying stuff like that," Lou spit at him.

"Be reasonable."

"Be kind!"

"I still like him, I'm not trying to insult him or something, I'm just trying to-"

"Trying to what?"

"Agh! He could be dangerous! We've only known him for 4 days, how could you let your guard down so fast?! How could you trust him just like that?!"

"Because he is a hero." Woah. That was... That was Will! Will called him a hero?! "He risked his life carrying that statue back half way across the world just to help the people that never accepted him in the first place. And, in the first war, he convinced his father to join his brothers. He convinced his father to set aside a thousands of years old rivalry, just to help the camp. He is a hero, Cecil. That is why I trust him." He was breathing heavily now.

Will... Did Will really think that way about him?

Nico reentered the tent. He wanted to cry, but he pulled himself together and acted like nothing happened. He struggled to contain his joy and relief. Will didn't hate him!

"So, kiddo," Nico sat down on the bed, wanting to ease the tension, "If you're staying with us, then at least tell us your name."

The little girl looked up at him.

"Do you have a name?" Lou asked.

She just looked at her.

"Then we'll have to give you one," Will smiled, "Anyone have a suggestion?"

"Bianca," Nico said immediately.

She giggled.

"She likes it," Cecil said.

Nico didn't like or trust this little girl at all, and he didn't at all feel the same way about her as he did his sister, but... It just felt right. He would have wanted to place the honor of sharing her name on someone who he really loved and trusted, but... he still gave it to her.

"It's perfect," Will said, looking at Nico.

Nico smiled sadly back at him.

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This was a bonus chapter. I wanted to do this chapter in Nico's POV as well as Will's and so I did. Hope you guys enjoyed it, as well as my interpretation of what happens to Nico during shadow travel or when he begins to fade. When we all fall asleep, where do we go? (Yes, I am a huge Billie Eilish fan, fight me.) K, love you guys, bye


	22. Chapter 19 Lou's POV

Oh my gods! I cannot believe I forgot to post this chapter! Sorry guys, I'm just naturally confused. This one was supposed to come after the argument with Cecil, but I accidentally posted another chapter. I was put with family and while in the car I wrote these 2 chapters, and I'm used to just posting the last chapter I have written, so there's my weekly excuse.

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Lou Ellen could tell something was up with Nico, but she didn't know what. He seemed... happy. Which was odd, considering everything Cecil said about him. Even if Cecil hadn't said that, it would still be odd. Well, at least he wasn't brooding.

To be honest, Lou could see where Cecil was coming from, he had a right to be apprehensive, but hearing him actually say it was... shocking? Upsetting?

Lou knew what it was like to be judged and thought of as "creepy," and so she supposed she let go of all reasonable thought and was quick to defend him. Nico was the first person she could empathize with on a personal level. And after everything they've gone through together, she thought Cecil would trust him just a little bit. And there was no reason for him to say it to Nico's face. That was just rude.

"Okay, we'll need to start devising a plan. Hey Nico, ya think you can go get us a map of the city or something?" Cecil asked with a pleading look.

"O- Oh. Um. Sure, okay," Nico looked a little deflated at that. He got up and left.

Will glared at Cecil, "First you say all that awful stuff about him, then you send him off?"

"Look, Will, I just wanted to speak with you guys," Cecil tried.

"Save it, Cecil," Will got up and was about to leave, but Lou put a hand on his shoulder, "Will, wait."

"What?!" He whipped around, "Are you siding with him?!"

"No, no. I'm just saying, maybe we should just hear what he has to say," Lou said, still gripping his shoulder.

Will sighed, "You're right. Sorry, I got a little defensive. What were you saying?"

Cecil cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably, "Um. I just wanted to apologize, first."

"As you should," Will nodded.

"Look, I'm sorry for not trusting him completely, but can you blame me? We've known him for 4 or 5 days and he goes and nearly makes Python fade into nothingness," Cecil attempted to reason with Will.

"He was trying to protect me," Will spat.

"I know, I know. It was just... a little unnerving, you know?"

"Are you scared of him?" Lou asked.

"No!" Cecil said a little too quickly, "Look, I didn't mean any harm by it. I still think he's a good kid and everything. I'm just... a little on edge."

Lou sighed, "I... Cecil. As a creepy daughter of Hecate who could easily turn you into a pig, I know what it's like to be feared. So, I'm sorry that I can't really empathize with you. But... I can see your point," Will made a choking sound, but Lou continued, "You don't hate Nico, do you?"

Cecil shook his head, "No. Of course not."

"Then, you're allowed to be apprehensive," Lou said cautiously, not wanting to anger Will.

Will gaped at her, "You can't be serious."

"Will, come on. Please, man. I like di Angelo Alright, I just revealed something I probably shouldn't have. Like when I dyed my hair pink and you laughed and said, 'The heck did the Stolls do to you?'"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Will said, defensively.

"My point exactly," Cecil jerked his arm in Will's direction, "I didn't mean it to be offensive. Nor do I dislike him. You didn't dislike my hair, did you?"

Will tried to suppress it, but a smile graced his lips, "Oh, I hated it!" He laughed, "No, of course not. Pink suits you. Not as well as cold colors, though."

"Exactly," Cecil smiled, "and creepy suits Nico."

Will shook his head, "Fine! I... I guess I see your point. But I still expect you to apologize to Nico."

"For what?" Perfect timing. Nico strode in, map in hand.

"What's that?" Cecil asked.

Nico raised an eyebrow, "Uh, the map you told me to get."

"Oh, um. Yeah. Thanks. Listen, Nico, can I talk to you?" Cecil asked.

"Uh sure," Nico said, apprehensively.

"I just wanted to apologize, for what I said earlier," Cecil looked at him with a sort of seriousness Lou rarely saw in his eyes. She could tell that he really meant it.

Nico rolled his eyes, "This again? Look, I told you, you have nothing to be sorry for. You have a right to be apprehensive. We've only known each other for a few days."

"Right, but still. It wasn't cool of me to say that, especially in the way I did."

Nico snorted, "You think that wasn't 'cool' of you? You've apologized 3 times for something that you don't even have to apologize for, that was really 'cool' of you. I should apologize too. I do need a little self control."

Cecil visibly relaxed. Lou could tell he still held his stance, he was wary of Nico, but that's not really something he could help. Besides, he had a right to feel that way. What Nico did was unnerving, and they've only known him for 4 or 5 days. Even Lou didn't trust that easily.

Lou could also tell that Will was extremely relieved. He hated getting mad at people, especially his best friends, but what he hated even more was people talking badly about others. Especially Nico. Whenever someone whispered something about the "creepy" Son of Hades, Will would immediately shut them down and stand up for him.

"So we're cool?" Cecil asked them all hesitantly.

Nico grunted.

Lou Ellen sighed, "You're still an idiot, but yes."

Will hesitated for a second, but then relented, "Ugh. I can't hold grudges. Yeah, we're good, bro. I still think you should try dying your hair blue."

Cecil laughed, "Haha, not a chance, Sunny Boy."

Lou looked at Nico. How could he forgive him so easily? He wasn't even angry to begin with. He seemed to just accept the fact. Lou was a daughter of Hecate, she was already thought of as creepy enough as it is. When word of her breakdowns got out, she was always getting sideways glances. Some were filled with with pity, some filled with humor. It was actually Cecil that helped her get through it. That's why she was so shocked when Cecil was on the giving end of the sideways looks. He knew already about what she went through, so how could he do that to someone else? Lou understood that it wasn't to bully him or anything, he was just apprehensive, but still.

Cecil tapped her shoulder and interrupted her train of thought, "You alright there, Sabrina?"

Lou glared at him, "Don't call me that, Mail-boy. That show doesn't make any sense. Why would the witches live in Salem?! That's like making a movie about pigs living in a slaughterhouse."

Cecil laughed and Bianca giggled. As cute as she was, her giggles were driving Lou crazy.

"Anyways," Nico drawled, "now that that's over. We have something to do."

Will nodded, "We have to save my dad. And how are we gonna do that?"

Silence.

"First things first," Nico clapped his hands together, "Let's do something we haven't done in a while and think this through."

"Thinking. Not my forte," Cecil shook his head.

"Oh we know," Lou Ellen teased.

"Hey this is my first time," he defended.

"I think this is all of our first times," Will said.

"Not me," Nico said casually.

"Great," Lou said sarcastically, "The god of the sun's fate rests in _our_ hands," Will said like it was the worst thing in the world.

"Oh gods," Nico said, horrified, "I'm gonna die surrounded by _you_ people."

"Yup!" Will said cheerily.

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Ugh. Ending chapters is always the hardest part. I just wanted to end it once the apologies were over but nope, I apparently can't do that.

Sorry again for forgetting to post this! At least it's up now


	23. Chapter 20 Nico's POV

Dam, this is a long chapter. 5,561 words?!

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in a while. When I'm sick I can't think straight So I decided to spare you guys from my muddled chapters written in a state of delirium or whatever. Sorry, I think I still may be sick. But yeah, after that I just got lazy. I'm posting this a day after I wrote it.

Just saying, I have no clue what real Delphi looks like. I'm completely making things up here, so don't try to multitask and read this while doing your geography homework. I literally just spent the last two minutes drawing a map of what I suppose a normal town would look like. It looks like an avocado. Thanks.

Another **Trigger Warning**. I've been doing a lot of Nico chapters lately, I know. But don't worry! It gets better. Maybe a certain blond doctor will come to the rescue? Hmm? Also **warning** for a lewd reference. It's just a minor joke but if you're sensitive about that then you have been warned.

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They were currently devising a plan on how to infiltrate the city and save Apollo so he could defeat Python— they decided that if he was powerful enough to give Apollo, a god, a run for his money, then they'd not wanna risk it and fight him themselves. Bianca was just staring at them. It was difficult to avoid her eyes when they followed you everywhere you went.

"Okay so we're right... here," Cecil pointed at an area on the map.

"How do you know that?" Will asked.

Cecil shrugged, "Son of the God of Travelers."

"And lucky for us, the Temple of Apollo, probably where the real Apollo is being kept, is on the opposite side of the map," Nico huffed. He was still in bed with a bunch of lamps shining on him. He was too amused to protest.

"I think we need help," Lou said. Before Nico could protest, she said, "From someone who knows the city. Who's lived there. Probably knows where everything and everyone is."

"That's great and all but, why exactly would they help us?" Cecil asked.

"Well it was just a suggestion... I just thought Xanthi would want to. She's nice and seems determined to get the 'terrorists' out. We can tell her that's what we plan to do, or something. If worse comes to worst I can use the mist."

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Lou. You've been using a lot of magic with very little rest," Will said.

"My mother is the goddess of magic. Besides, manipulating the mist just needs concentration," Lou shrugged.

"I think that's a fantastic idea!" Cecil grinned.

"It's the most logical thing to do," Nico agreed.

"So today, after dinner?" Lou asked.

"What?! Why wait that long?!" Will exclaimed.

"Will, I know you're anxious to save your father, and of course we understand that, but you look pretty damn tired. I think the added rest time will be good for us," Nico put a hand on Will's.

Will sighed, "You're right. What kind of doctor am I? Not harassing my friends into getting their daily requirement of sleep. Everyone off to bed! Especially you, di Angelo."

"BUUUUUT MOOOOOMMMMM!" Cecil protested.

"Off to bed now, dears," Will repeated in a failed attempt at an elderly woman impersonation.

Bianca giggled.

"Will you read us a bedtime story?" Lou Ellen mocked.

"Yeah! I want milk and cookies!" Cecil cheered.

"Sure, but first let Papa Nico tuck you two in," Will said again in his terrible impersonation.

"Why am I the Papa?" Nico scrunched up his nose.

"You'd rather be the mama?"! Will raised an eyebrow.

Nico made an indignant noise and stuttered, "N-No I didn't- I mean that I-"

After a second of struggling to hold it in, Cecil burst out laughing, everyone else closely followed, including Bianca who probably had no idea what everyone was laughing about. Nico found himself laughing along. He hadn't laughed like this since... since Bianca. The original. It felt nice. He almost felt... accepted. Even after Cecil admitted his apprehensiveness towards Nico. If only he hadn't screwed it up, maybe they could fully accept him. Maybe they would accept him into their little group of friends and he could laugh like this everyday. Laugh like he wasn't broken.

"Seriously, though. Everyone better go to sleep," Will said, crawling onto an air mattress on the floor.

"What? No, one of you guys can take the bed," Nico offered.

"Nope!" Will shook his head, "You are still healing. You need it the most."

Nico was about to protest again when Will gently pushed him down onto the mattress. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light.

Immediately, the nightmares began.

He was back... Every single damn time he closed his eyes he was back to this place. He used to try to use his powers to the point where he would fade away, back to the solace of the shadow realm, but no use. He was stuck. He could never escape. Even after he was taken from there, put into a bronze jar, and even after he was saved by the Seven, he could never escape.

The dreams were all different, so it always seemed like he never left. Everything in the real world was just a dream, and he would wake up back there to suffer through another day.

 _He was walking along the river Phlegethon. He didn't want to have to drink from it every so often, burning his mouth and insides to preserve a life he would rather not be burdened with. He wanted more than anything to just curl up and die, but he knew that this was about something more than himself. This was about closing the Doors of Death, how could he put his own life in front of others who deserve to live in peace way more than he did? Gods damn it, if he had to go insane then so be it._

 _He knelt back down onto the shards of glass to drink some more of that disgusting fire liquid. As he swallowed he felt it burn his throat and every organ it passed through. He felt like he was having an ulcer every time he drank it, so basically he felt like he was having an ulcer every 10 minutes._

 _He wondered how messed up he had to be to actually become dependent on this for survival. He also wondered what would happen once he had to leave the river. Would he go through some sort of withdrawal?_

 _He looked behind him and realized a hellhound was clawing away at his flesh._

 _Huh._

 _He turned back around and attempted to continue his train of thought, but he forgot what he was thinking about._

 _The hellhound's friends came over soon to examine the meat he was ripping away at. Soon enough, there were all sorts of monsters on him. He sighed. He had to fight back. It would have been so much nicer to just die right there. What would even happen to his soul? He was interested and wanted to find out._

 _He whipped around, sword in hand, and began swinging at the monsters. It was only in these moments he truly felt alive. Only when he sliced through another creature's flesh and murdered his fellow monsters did he feel human. He laughed aloud and continued slicing at the monsters. There was so much commotion that a bunch of other monsters joined the frenzy. When he finished off what would have been all the monsters, he was faced with even more foes. What better fun than to kill or die?_

 _He could barely feel the creatures gnawing away at his bone, some even made it to the marrow_ , _he was dead. He couldn't feel it. He was a ghost haunting this damaged body. He felt nothing anymore._

 _He was sitting by the river. He had many deep lacerations, scars, broken bones, fractures, sprains, bruises, and full chunks of flesh or bone were gone._

 _Where did these come from?_

 _He shrugged._

 _He took another sip of the blood of the being upon which he walked and let it simmer and burn his mouth a second before swallowing. He then ate a bit of ambrosia. He only allowed himself a crumb, considering he had to take it so many times a day and he didn't want to run out. He let the two work their magic as he got up_ _and continued walking._

 _He wondered how he was walking. Was he controlling his skeleton, like the ones in his skeletal army? He couldn't be using his Underworld powers, though. Or could he?_

 _Completely ignoring the previous night's events, he attempted to raise the dead. He outstretched his hand and concentrated. Usually the dead would rise from cracks in the ground, but here bones and teeth would rain from the sky. As soon as he tried it, monsters were immediately drawn to him by his command. Everything here was dead, after all._

 _He laughed and shook his head at his mistake as the monsters pounced on him. He had just fought off a bunch, and now he just had to attract more._

 _He continued walking. His mind was broken, its protective layer cracked and now he could see everything for what it was. The air was the same air Tartarus himself breathed. The ground upon which he walked was his flesh. Monsters were born in his blisters, the jagged obsidian and rock were his teeth. Everything here was him. So what was he? A foreign antigen, a germ, and the monsters were his immune system trying to fight him off. But he couldn't leave. He felt nostalgic of Camp Half-Blood._

 _He made it to a nice little cave. Probably his belly button. Nico tried not to think about that._

 _He looked around. The monsters were gone. Huh._

 _He sat back and just looked up._

 _He was alone._

 _Well, as alone as you could be when literally sitting on another being._

 _He looked down at his sword. It was the only thing he had left. He was alone in literal hell with nothing but a sword._

 _What would you do?_

 _He unsheathed it and looked at the reflection on the blade. He could barely make it out, the blade being so generously doused in blood and monster dust, but there were some areas that were almost clean. He looked at it. He saw someone, who was it? They looked horrible! Thin, gaunt, pale, and bony. Their skin hung off their bones. Their stringy black hair stuck to their face with blood and sweat. Dark circles framed the eyes, there were shadows under the cheek bones. Chunks of skin and hair were missing. He was almost completely covered in blood._

 _Who could this poor stranger be?_

 _He was tired. The one thing he wanted to do was to sleep, forever, but he knew he couldn't. He had to get to those damn doors, but he was allowed to fantasize. He spent most of his time daydreaming. He thought up many ways to kill himself, they were all very enticing. As he stared into the blade, he decided to try a few of them out. Just for fun. Tartarus's fiery blood was there to keep him alive, anyways. He thought he might as well take a break to relax and do something enjoyable, he'd been there for a while anyways._

 _He raised the sword to his neck and_

He shot right up.

Oh. It was a dream.

Or was this a dream? He probably passed out after slicing his throat.

It was hard to tell. Every nightmare felt so real. Like it was just another day down there. That was probably what made them so bad. It wasn't reliving a day, or a far-stretched dream with events that wouldn't actually happen, it was like actually being there. Having never left.

He looked up to see the little girl, Bianca, staring up at him. Everyone else was asleep. He mastered the ability to stay still and silent during his nightmares. He couldn't be screaming and thrashing around when he was still living alone, that would attract monsters or mortals, and he certainly couldn't do that on the Argo II.

"Why aren't you asleep?" Nico asked.

No response.

"Have you just been watching me sleep?"

No response again.

He sighed. "I'm gonna go out for a walk, just stay here."

He got up and grabbed his sword before leaving the tent. People were bustling around, but everyone was really quiet, not wanting to attract anything. Although, they seemed less conscious pf their volume within their tents, as if the thin cloth muffled their sound somehow. There were only a few tents, each one housing maybe 4 or 5 people. All of the people here were below the age of 50. He slipped into the forest and searched for a nice shady area to sit. It was 5:00 PM, according to his wristwatch, so it wasn't too dark, which was perfect.

Perfect that it wasn't too dark? Nico di Angelo was the Ghost King, the practical Prince of Darkness. Why would it be better if it wasn't too dark? "Too dark" shouldn't even exist to him.

The truth is, Nico was scared of the dark. It reminded him of the place that haunted his nightmares. There was no light in the pit, other than fire. But he unfortunately still drew strength from the shadows, that was his domain after all.

He came across a stream and sat by it. He felt déjà vu as a painful memory crossed his mind of the river Phlegethon. He shot right up, the memory startling him, and gripped his hair. It was a beautiful place: a clear stream running through a green forest, but that stupid place just wouldn't let him enjoy it. That place followed him, he saw it everywhere he went. It haunted him.

He sank to his knees. He just wanted to get rid of it. To be done with that place. He wanted for it to wear off eventually, to just go away. But that won't happen. It will never leave him. His whole life will forever be affected by it. That place was a part of him now, the same way he was a part of it.

He clasped his hand over his mouth to muffle the sound as he screamed. He tugged at his hair and sobbed uncontrollably. The almighty and powerful Ghost King was brought to his knees by something at the bottom of a pit. By something that gets walked all over everyday. He was no hero. He was not what Will thought he was. He was weak. He was a little kid who saw some things. He couldn't handle it. He just wanted to die.

All of a sudden, a pair of strong arms pulled Nico into a tight embrace. He pushed the person away and scrambled to his sword, but then he turned around and realized it was Will. He was looking at him sadly. Will saw him crying like some child.

"Oh... Will. What- What are you doing here?" Nico attempted to pull himself together.

"I saw you leave the tent, so I followed you," Will admitted sheepishly.

"You followed me? Have you ever heard of privacy, Will?!" Nico scowled.

"I know. I'm sorry. I was worried," he apologized.

"Well, I'm fine," Nico got up and was about to walk away when Will grabbed his hand.

"No, Nico, you're clearly not. Just talk to me. I want to help."

Nico shook his head, "You can't help me. It's fine Will. I know you're my doctor, but I'm just the one patient you can't heal."

"Why do you do this?" Will asked.

"Do what?" Nico asked, confused.

"Push people away! I'm your friend, Nico. I want to help."

 _Friends huh? That's all it'll ever be. Friends._ "I don't have friends," Nico looked away.

"What am I, then? What are Cecil and Lou Ellen? Reyna? Coach Hedge? The Seven, especially Jason and Percy? Heck, even that zombie butler. You even have a sister!"

"Acquaintances. We had to work together. To save the world. And Jules-Albert is kinda forced to be my chauffeur and Hazel didn't choose to be my sister."

Will shook his head, "You really think that? Is that what you really think about Jason and Percy, who call you their 'little bro'? Is that what you think of Hazel, your sister? Is that what you think of Reyna? Of me?"

Was that...hurt in Will's voice?

"Well, what else could it be?" Nico shrugged.

"Love," Will cupped Nico's cheek in his hand.

And the world stopped spinning.

Will's hand was warm, Nico wanted to lean into it. He wanted to believe that he could.

"Your sister loves you. Percy, Jason, and Reyna love you like a brother. I... I love you..." Will's voice trailed off at the end.

Nico stared into Will's eyes. They reminded him of many things, but not that place. For once, it didn't haunt the image of something he loved. He felt... safe.

But Nico shook his head. "You don't love me. You can't. You saw what I did. You know what I am. I'm a monster. I nearly _obliterated_ his soul. He would have ceased to exist. He would have become another mindless ghost in the shadow realm."

"It was an accident-"

"That could have cost him more than just his life! And it happened twice. I've nearly done this twice! That's called dangerous, Will. You don't love that. You can't love-"

All of a sudden he felt something warm on his mouth, silencing him. Will was kissing him. He remembered the first time it happened, but he thought that was a dream. This time certainly felt like one. It was that magical. It was gentle and loving. Will's lips were incredibly soft. His breath was warm and his hand still cupped Nico's cheek. But it was... it was real.

William Solace was kissing him. That super annoying yet hot doctor who cared more for his patients than anything. The hero who ran out onto battlefields to save patients. The idiot who tried to distract a group of Roman soldiers by playing tag.

Nico realized he was just staring and standing still, so he leaned into the kiss.

He felt fireworks go off.

Will's hand moved down to Nico's waist, so Nico tangled his hands into Will's wavy blonde hair. It was amazing. It was warm. It was... happy. He was happy. For the first time since Bianca, he was happy. He felt stronger. All thoughts of... Tartarus, vanished. For now, it was just Will. Will with his wavy, honey blond hair and his sparkling sky blue eyes.

Will pulled away for a breath, and Nico studied his face. He usually had a light dusting of pink on his cheeks, but now they were flushed red. His eyes glittered with amusement and overall happiness. The bridge of his nose was splashed with freckles.

The expression in Will's eyes changed, slightly. "Nico, please. I do love you. Please, know that if something is bothering you, you can talk to me. I want to help."

Nico stepped away, "Will... thank you. I... I can't say, but don't worry. I'm not upset anymore." He cupped Will's cheek.

Will smiled down at him and pecked his forehead. Nico felt the heat rise to his cheeks.

"Let's go back," Will said, grabbing Nico's hand. He led him back to the campsite

Nico began to wonder again if this was a dream. He was still there and he was dreaming. How could something so perfect happen to him? Either way, it was a good dream, and he didn't want it to end.

When they entered their tent they found Lou Ellen and Cecil lying next to each other, still asleep. Their air mattresses were right next to each other, and they were lying down at the edge of theirs that was touching the other's. Cecil had an arm wrapped around Lou Ellen and Lou was snuggled into him. It was adorable.

"I wish I had a phone to take a picture of this. I would so use it for blackmail," Will whispered beside him.

"William Solace! I never would have taken you for such a fiend!" Nico pretended to be shocked.

Will grinned, "Think again, I drink milk straight from the carton!"

Nico gasped dramatically, "You monster!"

Bianca, who was sitting cross-legged and watching them ever since they returned, giggled.

Will chuckled and walked over to Lou Ellen and Cecil. "Wake up, Love Birds." He nudged the mattress.

Lou got up and when she noticed Cecil's arm, she blushed. Cecil, on the other hand, pretended to continue sleeping.

"Get up," Will kicked the mattress.

Will and Lou Ellen looked at each other and had some sort of silent agreement. Then, they lifted up one side of the mattress and flipped it, earning a feminine shriek out of Cecil.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, glaring up at the 2 laughing demigods, Bianca giggled in the back.

Nico smirked and maybe even laughed. He looked at Will's tall figure and smiled. Maybe... maybe he could be capable of love. Maybe he could be capable of having friends like these. Maybe Will really does love him, just as Nico does him.

Wait.

Will Solace kissed him.

Will Solace is gay.

"Death Boy, you okay? You look like you're gonna puke," Will walked over, concern visible in his brow.

"Yeah," Nico cleared his throat and straightened up, "I'm fine. I'm shocked that you did that. Very un-doctor-like of you. What if he got hurt?"

"He would've deserved it," Lou said, helping Cecil up.

"Hey!" Cecil said indignantly.

Their laughing was interrupted by Xanthi who popped in and said, "Quit laughing and get ready, dinner will be ready in 15 minutes by the campfire," she smiled.

"Okay, thank you," Lou Ellen thanked her.

They freshened up a bit, Will humming the whole time. Sorry Sunshine, but it was no way near as good as when he was humming to Nico.

On the other hand, Nico had many thoughts running through his head. Will Solace is gay. Will is gay. Will is gay and he's... well, gay. Happy. Is he out already? Well clearly they both are to Lou and Cecil, if his dream before the incident with Python was real. Oh gods. They knew too. But... they seemed to like Will just fine. So far everyone he told was fine with it. Was it really okay?

Nico was born on January 28, 1932. Back then, if you came out as gay, you were put on a "pink list" and were arrested. Chances were, you would be sent to a concentration camp to be incarcerated. There, you would have a suit with a pink triangle, displaying what you were for everyone to see, and you would wear that suit until you died, which probably wouldn't take too long. Many homosexuals were even experimented on, in hopes to find a cure. A cure for homosexuality. Some pill or surgery that could convert you to heterosexuality. At least lesbian women weren't persecuted. You couldn't be a lesbian, it was thought of as alien to the nature of Aryan women. Only a few lesbians were arrested, but they were labeled as "asocials" or "prostitutes." But that was still horrible. The fact that women loving women was so preposterous that it couldn't happen. Long story short, he came from a time when homosexuality was prohibited. But now... could he wear a pink triangle proudly?

"You're in a good mood," Lou Ellen commented, looking at Will.

Will clearly must have noticed Nico's panic, for he said, "I'm always in a good mood. That, and pushing Cecil off the bed really improved my day."

"Man, you guys always do the most painful things to me in bed," Cecil huffed.

Nico turned red, because of his old-fashioned upbringings, but Will just started cracking up and Lou threw her hairbrush at him.

"Don't worry, Nico. That's not what I meant. Will would only ever want to do things in bed with you," Cecil winked.

Nico choked.

Will was blushing too as he kicked Cecil, not hard enough to actually hurt him, though. Cecil snickered.

"U- Um, let's go to dinner," Will stuttered.

"Uh y- yeah," Nico scrambled out of the tent, sure he was at least twice as red Will.

They walked over to the campfire and conveniently found seats right next to Xanthi. Nico sat in between Will and Bianca, who was trying to braid Lou's hair, but it was too short and Lou was too tall.

They had rice and some sort of meat, since rice is non-perishable, but Nico had no idea where the meat came from, nor did he want to ask.

Since they were so conveniently seated right next to Xanthi, they found it was the perfect time to figure out a plan with her.

"Uh, excuse me, ma'am?" Will politely asked.

"Again, stop making me feel old. Call me Xanthi," she said.

"Right, um, Xanthi, listen, we're planning on... infiltrating the prison camps," Cecil lied.

"What?!" Xanthi exclaimed. Heads turned to face us.

"Quiet down, we don't need a riot," Nico hissed.

"Right, sorry," Xanthi apologized, "but you kids cannot be serious. You're like, what, 14?!"

 _Technically I'm 87._

"Hear us out," Nico said, "we know what we're doing. With a proper plan we can do it."

Xanthi shook her head, "No. No way. You're children. You have a 5 year old with you! What sort of leader would I be if I let you go off and get yourselves killed?!"

"We're not going to get killed. Look, we all do martial arts. We're pretty good fighters. And we're smart. We go to school abroad. In America. It's called... um... Chiron's Academy for the Gifted and Talented. That's how we met," Cecil lied.

Nico admired his ability to make up such far fetched lies on the spot.

"That's all great, but good grades and the ability to chop a piece of wood with your hand is not going to help you," Xanthi crossed her arms.

"Look, my dad is in there. I need to save him," Will looked at her, eyes wet.

She looked at him sadly, "I know how you feel, kid. My brother is in there. As much as I hate him and as much as he annoys me, he is still my brother."

"So you lost someone too," Lou Ellen said, "If you let us do this, we can get him back. Him and everyone who is still there."

Xanthi smiled sadly, "You are all very noble, but I have to say no. I cannot he selfish and compromise the lives of 5 children for my brother. I am the elected leader of these people for a reason."

"Look, remember when you found us this afternoon? We went into the city, and we made it out," Nico reasoned.

"You were unconscious," Xanthi raised an eyebrow.

"Fair point, but we made it out. If you don't help us, we'll still try again. We're doing this, with or without your help," Nico awaited her response with a determined look in his eyes.

She thought for a second, then sighed. "You kids are stubborn. Fine, I'll only help you because you'll be worse off without my help. Let's continue talking in your tent, we don't need anyone else getting any ideas." She got up and threw out her plate.

They went back into their tent and sat down. Xanthi on the bed, the rest of them on the mattresses on the floor, but Nico stood, leaning on his sword. He always wondered what it looked like to mortals.

"What do you have so far?" Xanthi asked.

"Ummmm..." Will began, "nothing so far..."

Xanthi raised her eyebrows, "Do you know what the place looks like?"

"Yes, we have a map," Cecil took it out of his bag and handed it to her.

She studied it, "Okay, you have everything labeled correctly. So where do you plan to go?"

"We need to get to wherever Py— uh, their leader is," Nico answered.

"Why?" She asked.

"Um-" Nico began.

"Because he keeps his keys there," Cecil lied.

Xanthi nodded, "Well he stays in the abandoned temple. On the other side of the city."

"I thought so," Nico said.

"Best way to get there...? I honestly have no idea. I don't think there is one. It's heavily guarded and all the way on the other side of the city. There are maybe hundreds of them. I don't think there's any way to get there," Xanthi looked at them apologetically.

"There has to be a way," Nico kicked a mattress in frustration.

Bianca crawled up onto the bed and touched the map.

"Bianca, please, don't touch that," Will said, getting up. Probably to get her down.

"No wait," Lou put her hand on Will's arm, successfully stopping him. "Look at Where she's touching."

Her little hand was on one of the buildings that was being used to keep the mortals.

Then it clicked.

"Bianca, you're a genius!" Nico exclaimed.

She giggled.

"What? Why?" Cecil asked.

"Don't you see? It's perfect!" Nico was getting excited, "Hidden in plain sight. The jailhouse and the other buildings used to keep the mor- Uh, the people are all directly in front of Apollo's temple. The best way to get in is to get caught. Xanthi, were you a prisoner?"

"Of course. We all were," she responded.

"Right. Well, I don't know if I remember correctly. Can you tell me what happened? What we did everyday before we escaped, and how we escaped."

Xanthi seemed a little suspicious of the request, but answered anyways, "Security was pretty loose. They seemed to underestimate us greatly. We were cooped up in a cell all day, but we got to choose what cell we wanted and could make requests. We were let out everyday on supervised walks, they seemed to think we would 'die' if we don't get exercise and fresh air. They acted like they didn't know anything about humans. One day I asked a particularly... I'll be nice and say, disinterested guard if I could have some hair clips. My hair was getting in my face and it was interfering with my eating, since our hands were cuffed together and I kept having to brush my hair behind my ear. He seemed to understand and brought me a box of bobby-pins the next day with breakfast. At night, after they checked if we were asleep, they only had one guard in each building. Again, they didn't seem to think we were any cause of concern. They were just trying to 'keep ya out of the way.' So I picked the locks and got everyone in our building out and we escaped into the forest. That's why there's only about 30 or 40 of us here. There are 3 other buildings. It's a small town."

Nico nodded and grinned, "Perfect, so we'll just get captured then escape to the temple."

"Hang on. After we escaped, they would have heightened security. It probably won't be as easy to escape," Xanthi warned.

"Nothing we can't handle," Cecil gave his trademark mischievous grin.

"You think you can steal from their leader?" Xanthi raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, I think I can," Cecil held up a clip on his hand.

Xanthi reached up to touch her bun when she realized that her hair was down, even though it was in a loose bun when she first came in.

She smirked. "Gimme that," she snatched the hair clip from Cecil. "Fine. That was, I'll admit, impressive. But I'm still not so sure about this."

"We'll be fine," Nico put a hand on her shoulder and tried to muster up a comforting smile. It probably looked more like a grimace, but she seemed to get the idea.

She put her hand on top of Nico's and smiled sadly, "Save my brother."

"We will," Nico promised, filled with determination. (A/n: 5 points to whomever got that reference.)

She got up, and gazed down at the demigods and strange 5 year old, and said, "It will be a miracle if you could pull this off. They managed to take this city in a matter of hours. They even cut it off from the world. But I can see that you are stubborn, and will not waver your stance. I thought at least the girls would have some sense. Know that I pray for you. Save my brother. Have faith, the gods haven't forgotten you. You know what to do if you need my help." She left, eyes twinkling.

Wait...

"Wait what," Will said.

"Come on, guys. Let's go save her brother," Nico smirked.

Ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

I know I keep switching between describing Delphi as a town, city, or village, but I honestly have no clue what Delphi is so... yeah.

I also apologize for the horribly written kiss scene.

Also, odd question, if the demigods were all mortals, what jobs would they have? Will and Annabeth are kinda obvious, but what about everyone else? It's for another fanfiction I'mma start after this one.

Thanks again for reading! Don't forget to leave a review, they make my day! K, bye!


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